Villa Solitaria, also known as Casa Solitaria or La Solitaria, is a national historic house built between 1907 and 1910 via del Pizzolungo on the island of

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

(Naples, Italy) by Edwin Cerio (1875–1960), a prominent Italian writer, engineer, architect, historian, and botanist Surrounded by cliffs and mediterranean plants, isolated yet a few minutes away from Capri's vibrant central ''piazzetta'', it overlooks the most famous rocky stacks in the Mediterranean, the ''

Faraglioni In Italian, (; nap, faragliune ; singular in both languages) are stacks, coastal and oceanic rock formations eroded by waves. The word may be derived from the Greek ' or Latin ("lighthouse") and is cognate with the Spanish . They are found ...

''. The particular shape and the legends that hover around the Faraglioni make them magical and evocative places.

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

, in the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

, describes the stacks as the boulders that the Cyclops

Polyphemus Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and lege ...

threw at Ulysses. In the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

speaks of it as the meeting place of the siren : from these imposing rocks came their sweet song that enchanted the sailors. The house's foundations and its theater-shaped garden's walls likely date from the middle-age or possibly earlier. The antique roman imperial port of Tragara, and the Scoglio del Monacone where Masgaba, the architect of Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, was buried, are in the immediate vicinity of the house. Edwin Cerio built the house without predetermined plans, together with the skills and feelings of local masons, so that each window would become “a painting signed by God”. It filled it with lilies and thistles ceramic floors, and quotes inspired by the biblical Song of Songs’ poetry.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...

, founder of the

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

movement in 1909, and credited with spurring the rise of Italian modern architecture and city planning, described La Solitaria as one of the first futurist house of Italy for its verticality, spatial and visual innovations. Edwin Cerio rented the house from 1914 to 1924 to Sir Edward Compton MacKenzie, a famous Scottish writer of fiction, biography, history. During this time, La Solitaria became the central meeting point of the English writers living or transiting in Capri, such as

Norman Douglas George Norman Douglas (8 December 1868 – 7 February 1952) was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel ''South Wind''. His travel books, such as ''Old Calabria'' (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing. L ...

Francis Brett Young Francis Brett Young (29 June 1884 – 28 March 1954) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, composer, doctor and soldier. Life Francis Brett Young was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire. He received his early education at Iona, a pri ...

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, David Herbert Lawrence, as well as the Scottish music critic and composer, Cecil Gray. Compton MacKenzie shared with Douglas a passion for botanics, and did plant pines and cypress as well as exotic plants brought back from their numerous overseas trips.

References

{{Coord, 40, 32, 42.66, N, 14, 15, 15.04, E, region:IT, display=title Houses completed in the 19th century Buildings and structures in Capri, Campania Villas in Campania Song of Songs Mediterranea Futurist architects Ulysses (novel) Cyclopes Capri, Campania 19th-century architecture in Italy