Welcome to the site Napoliforme

In the last period of his reign (27.37 A.D.), the Emperor Tiberius chose Capri as his permanent residence and ordered the construction of twelve villas on the island, each consecrated to an Olympian deity (as recounted by the Latin historian and biographer Tacitus). Villa Jovis, the last residence of the emperor (14-37 AD), is in one of the most beautiful and unspoilt areas of Capri, on Mount Tiberius. It was built at the beginning of the first century AD and, like many of the ancient Roman villas on the Campania coast, was rediscovered in the eighteenth century. The inaccessible villa dominates the coast opposite Punta Campanella, in an extraordinarily scenic visual contact with the Sorrento promontory. The building that has been brought to light covers an area of approximately 7,000 square metres, but the original complex was much larger and was accompanied by woods, gardens and isolated buildings in the countryside. The dwelling is organised in several floors arranged along the natural slope of the land and gardens that extend across the hillside. The rooms are arranged around a central area occupied by cisterns for rainwater, a reserve intended to supply the villa's baths, while the emperor's private quarters are to the east, in the highest and most protected part of the complex, connected by ramps and steps to the northern slope where the triclinium (dining room) and loggia are located, intended for strolling and contemplating the extraordinary panorama over the entire Gulf of Naples, from Ischia to Punta della Campanella. On the edge of the mountain a secluded building has been identified as the astronomical observatory (specularium) of Thrasyllus, the emperor's personal astrologer. Nearby was the lighthouse tower, wanted by the emperor to transmit messages and collapsed a few days before his death. Rebuilt as a lighthouse for seafarers, it remained in use until the 17th century.