No one had the courage to approach it for some time. Too many mysterious and disturbing stories were told and handed down about that sea cave, opening on the northwestern side of the island. Stories well known to the island notary, Don Giuseppe Pagano, who was strongly intrigued by them.
And it was about that very cave that he happened to talk to the two foreign guests who had just landed in Capri, in that summer of 1826. Unlike most of the foreigners, who only allowed themselves a daily excursion, the painter Ernst Fries and the poet and writer August Kopisch, both Germans, landed on the island intending to spend a long stay there to discover and enjoy all its beauties.They found lodging at Don Giuseppe's house.
Large, on the hill and therefore with good and fresh air as a refreshment from the summer heat, the notary's residence offered a familiar welcome to foreign guests for very modest amounts and the landlord was happy to make the island known, through the books that he made available, but also lent himself to accompany them around, acting as a guide himself. It was with this spirit that in one of the evening conversations after dinner with the two Germans, he proposed to them a tour of the island by boat for the next day. And as the speech proceeded, he also spoke to them about that cave where no one went, which was said to be inhabited by evil spirits, suggesting the possibility of going there. The idea was enthusiastically welcomed by the foreigners and it was agreed for the next day, amid fears of the women of the house, who were strongly against that trip.
The next morning, the group led by Don Giuseppe and his son Michele boarded the boat of a fisherman, Angelo Ferraro known as the "Riccio", while the priest brother of the notary, celebrated a mass for the safety of the relative from the dangers he was going to face. . So on August 17, 1826, for the first time since it was remembered, men entered the mysterious cave. Not without difficulty, because the entrance was so low that you had to crouch on the bottom of the boat to be able to cross it. But the visit was worth the little inconvenience: the cave turned out to be splendid, instead of haunted!
What struck the group was the very particular blue reflection that illuminated the sea cave. And inspired by that light Kopisch and his friend suggested renaming it “Grotta Azzurra", thus deleting the name used by the fishermen of the area “Gradola”. They returned ecstatic a second time and Kopisch described his marvel in Don Giuseppe's guest book. It was he who immediately grasped the value of that discovery, so much so as to commission immediately after the construction of a smaller boat than normal to be able to overcome the small entrance.
A description of that visit was entrusted by Kopisch to an essay published only in 1838, which introduced the world to the beautiful cave of Capri, which in the meantime, had other illustrious guests and writers visiting. Another German traveler, Wilhelm Wablinger, set the tale Märchen von del blauen Grotte, Fable of the Blue Grotto, and the cave was also mentioned by Hans Christian Andersen in his Improvisator, Improvisator dating 1835. Thus the cave became famous, becoming one of the obligatory stops on the Grand Tour.
Only long after the discovery of the Blue Grotto, was learned that in the past the beauty hidden by that characteristic karst cavity had already been admired by human eyes. The Romans had probably made a marine nymphaeum there, as in the Matermania cave on the southern side. On the other hand, on the island, above the cave, there are the remains of a Roman villa in the Gradola area (like the previous name of the cave). And even higher Tiberius used to contemplate the sea from his splendid Villa Damecuta. And if today it is forbidden to swim in the cave, it is very much possibile that the emperor, who loved swimming very much, did it during his long stay in Capri.
Evidence of that ancient use are the two Roman statues brought to light from the bottom of the cave in June 1964 and the third statue with numerous other findings, found in a subsequent excavation campaign ten years later. These statues, displayed in Anacapri at the so called Red House, one represents Neptune, the other two the son of the god of the sea, Triton. It has been speculated that other Roman sculptures could still be guarded by the sand of the cave. This, however, is actually made up of different rooms, including the "Hall of Names", where the foreign travelers of the Grand Tour engraved their names, and the "Hall of Corrosion", as well as various passages above and below the sea, one of which connects to the nearby “Grotta dei Guarracini”.
Of this karst complex, only the first and most famous environment can currently be visited, to which a refraction phenomenon gives the characteristic and fascinating blue reflection. This is the so called Duomo Azzurro, the only one that welcomes visitors with its 22 meters deep, 25 wide, 60 long and a height ranging from 7 to 14 meters. On the other hand, the crack that works as entrance is just one meter above the surface of the water, making still necessary today to lie down on the bottom of the boat as Kopisch and his fellow adventurers did, while the boat proceeds slowly, pulled by a rope placed at the entrance. A few moments of excited waiting, before being able to get up to admire the blue reflection. Another five minutes of wonder before returning to the real world.
Ph: Andrea Santini
