The Blue Grotto of Capri
"Nothing," says a celebrated traveller, "can exaggerate the beauty of the 'Blue Grotto.'" The island of Capri, situated in the Mediterranean Sea, at the entrance of the Bay of Naples, is surrounded by steep cliffs in which are many caves and grottoes. The most wonderful of these is the Blue Grotto. The magical effect is perhaps heightened by the difficulties attending an entrance. The sea must be perfectly calm and the day bright, as the arch by which it is entered, under the limestone cliff, is only about a yard high and very narrow, so that visitors have to lie down in the small boat. A wave carries them through the short passage-way, when suddenly they are in a fairy land such as only the Arabian Nights can depict. The water is like liquid sapphire, and the whole rocky vault of the cavern shimmers to its deepest recesses with a pale blue light of marvellous beauty. A man plunges into the water and swims about; his body then sparkles like a sea-god with phosphorescent silver; his head out of the water is as black as that of a Moor. In order to accustom the eye to the color and to appreciate all the beauties, it is necessary to remain in the grotto at least twenty minutes. The length of the grotto is 165 feet; breadth, 100 feet, and the highest part is about 40 feet, the depth of the water 8 fathoms.
On the right side there is a landing place, leading to a subterranean passage with broken steps, and which is closed at the extremity by a square stone, beyond which no attempt has been made to explore. But it is thought to communicate with the villa of Damecuta on the heights above, and that this grotto may have been the bathing place. The common story is that the grotto was discovered in 1822, but it has been known since 1605.
The gorgeous blue color is accounted for scientifically, as the effect of the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays through the water in connection with the peculiar stone formation of the grotto. There is another grotto in the island where the same causes produce a dazzling green color, but the water in this case is of a dark polished brass color. The Green Grotto is greatly inferior to the "Grotto Azzurra."
The island of Capri is a huge block of limestone broken off from the promontory of Sorrento. It is 10 miles in circumference (3 1/2 by 2). It is divided down the middle by a deep depression between two precipitous mountains rising 1800 feet above the sea. The town of Capri is situated in this depression or valley, while Anacapri is on the northwest slope. There are only two landings to the island, the cliffs being so precipitous. One of these opposite Naples is called the Marina Grande. The peasantry bring donkeys to the beach for hire, as it is almost impossible to make the ascent of the island on foot. The early poets write of Capreae, but not much of its history is known until, with Naples, it passed into the hands of Caesar Augustus in exchange for the island of Ischia. He spent some time here, but it is with the second Caesar that Capri is strongly associated. This island was the continuous residence of Tiberius Caesar for the last ten years of his life. During this time he erected twelve palaces to the twelve superior deities, and the so-called antiquities of the island consist chiefly of the ruins of these buildings and their villas. For at the death of Tiberius, so atrocious had been the last years of his life, the Roman Senate ordered every one of the buildings he had erected in Capri to be razed to the ground.
The climate of Capri is perfect, and the views from its high cliffs are the finest of the many fine views about the Bay of Naples.
It was during the reign of Tiberius that Christ was crucified.