This was the day we escaped the hordes, and hiked off on our own to visit this Roman villa, of which we had seen details in our guide book. Looking at the map below, taken from a leaflet, we walked nearly all of the red route, but branched off and followed the black route also. It was probably a couple of miles, on a slight upward slope all the way there. I had been in training all year to walk up Vesuvius, which I did, so this was a doddle.
Villa Jovis has its own website: www.villajovis.it but briefly, it was one of twelve imperial villas on Capri, home of Emperor Tiberius, who was a bit of a boy, throwing people off the cliffs if they didn't meet his strange requirements, or when he had had enough of them. The heyday of the villa was between AD 27, and 37 when he died.
The Italians do a nice line in entry tickets to their historical sites, this one being no exception...
From the leaflet, an artist's impression of what the villa would have looked like at its best:
And again from the leaflet, an aerial photo of how it looks now. It has not done too badly considering its age and lack of protection from the elements.
Now, my photos. Below is the watchtower just next door to the villa:
There is a diagram given out as to which part is which, but we lost our bearings, and indeed, lost ourselves, in the labyrinth inside. In one dark corridor I walked into a chain across the front of my neck saving me from falling down a hole! So here are the various photos:
