For eleven years the Roman Empire was governed from here, from a cliff sheer above the sea at the eastern tip of Capri: Tiberius left Rome in 27 and never went back, and his largest villa, dedicated to Jupiter, on the summit of the mountain that now bears his name, at 334 metres, became the seat of government, with messages arriving from the mainland by the fire signals of the tower and by fast ships. Suetonius told us of orgies and slaves thrown from the Salto di Tiberio, the three-hundred-metre wall beside the villa; today's historians believe little of it, but the story made the place's fortune.
What to see
What remains is a skeleton of brick and reticulate walls on eight levels, seven thousand square metres of terraces with a drop of forty metres, brought back to light by Amedeo Maiuri in 1932: in the centre the great cisterns that collected the rain from the roofs, because up there there was no water, around them the wings of the palace, the imperial quarters to the north, the offices to the south, the reception halls to the east, and to the west the ambulatio, the long covered walk where the emperor strolled alone looking at Anacapri. Above the ruins, the little church of Santa Maria del Soccorso with the statue of the Madonna looking over the gulf.
The real reason to climb is the view: from the terrace you see Ischia and Procida, the whole Gulf of Naples with Vesuvius, the Sorrento peninsula a stone's throw away and, turning round, the Gulf of Salerno as far as the Cilento. You understand why Tiberius chose this spot: nobody could approach without being seen, and whoever arrived had the whole Empire before him. Not far off, the Faro di Tiberio, the signal tower that linked the island to the mainland.
Visiting
You get there only on foot from Capri, two kilometres uphill along Via Tiberio, between walls, gardens and vineyards, forty minutes at an easy pace; no buses, no taxis. The ticket is minimal and the site is open almost all year, with the closing day changing from season to season: check first. Bring water and a hat, the path has no shade at the top.
Our editors' tip
Climb in the late afternoon, when the groups have left with the last hydrofoil and the villa is yours and the gulls': from the Salto di Tiberio, behind the parapet, look down into the sea and then towards Sorrento, and think that this was the window of the most powerful man in the world. Then walk down slowly: Via Tiberio at sunset, with the lights of Capri below, is the finest walk on the island.
