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Villa San Michele

Villa San Michele
Architecture
The Museum
The Collection
Luisa Casati Stampa

Axel Munthe

Biography
The Royal Connection
The Story of San Michele
Historic Photo Album
Axel Munthe Today
Munthe’s BBC Program

The Garden

The Garden
The Gardener
Rare Plants
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Barbarossa the Castle
Birds

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Billy's Bar
Private Events at Villa San Michele
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Cultural events

Cultural events
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”I want my house open to sun and wind and the voice of the sea, like a Greek temple, and light, light, light everywhere!”
Villa San Michele is the life’s work at Capri of the Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe (1857–1949). It is surrounded by an impressive garden, which recently won the price as Italy’s most beautiful private park. Behind it is the Barbarossa mountain, that Axel Munthe turned into a sanctuary for migratory birds.

Axel Munthe recounts the story of his life and the creation of the villa in The Story of San Michele (1929). It became one of the first international bestsellers in modern time.

The tale that then captivated countless readers all over the world, lives on in Villa San Michele, in its rooms and garden and in the Egyptian sphinx, that silently watches the sea from its balustrade.

Art exhibition. Abitanti di un altrove Sandro Chia incontra Axel Munthe.

In memory of the founder of Villa San Michele, 75 years after his passing, a unique exhibit with paintings by Sandro Chia,
created for this occasion.

The museum and the exhibit are open to the public 9 am to 3.30 pm every day. (last entry at 3 pm)

From december 2024 to the end of february 2025, the museum is closed every tuesday.

Limited opening hours: December 25 from 9.00am to 1.30pm (last entry 1.00pm)


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The Collection

Villa San Michele houses an important art collection. The majority is of Roman, Etruscan or Egyptian origin, many are sculptures. Munthe himself chose them for their beauty as well as their symbolic significance. One of these is the fabled 3200-year-old sphinx.

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Axel Munthe

Axel Munthe built Villa San Michele at the beginning of the 20th century. He was born in the small southern town of Oskarshamn in 1857 and died in the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 1949. In his lifetime, Munthe was one of the most well known Swedes in the world. A successful doctor on the continent, he was nominated the personal physician of Queen Victoria of Sweden. His fictitious autobiography The Story of San Michele (1929) became one of the most important bestsellers of its time.

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Barbarossa

Axel Munthe also bought the mountainside which overlooks Villa San Michele. The reason for the purchase was that Munthe wanted to prohibit the netting and trapping of wild birds – an important and lucrative business on Capri at the time.
Like an eagle’s nest, perched at the top is the thousand-year-old castle called Castello Barbarossa. In the spring, ornithologists use it to study migratory birds.

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Events

Every summer, hundreds of visitors come to Villa San Michele to follow our cultural events. Internationally acclaimed musicians and singer from Sweden and Italy entertain the audience from the stage of the open air theatre in the garden, with the sunset over the island of Ischia as a breathtaking backdrop.

Learn more about this summer’s program here


Rent Villa San Michele

Are you planning a romantic wedding, a birthday celebration, a company event? Villa San Michele is a unique and exclusive setting.
Contact events@sanmichele.org for information.

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