 |
||
   The Blue Grotto |
|
|
    
|
The existence of the Blue Grotto was revealed in August 1826 by
the German writer August Kopisch, who described its extraordinary
beauty. Since then the Blue Grotto has become the emblem of the
island of Capri; but the enchantment of this place goes back further
in time, when it was well known by the Romans, as proved by the
antique statues which were found in the Grotto.This discovery,
the remains of an ancient landing place and the work on an underground
tunnel, create an immage of a natural cavern adorned by statues:
a nymphaeum built around the intense and brilliant blue of the
sea which still today fascinates its visitors.The grotto was known
to the locals under the name of Gradola, after the nearby landing
place of Gradola, but it was avoided because it was said to be
inhabited by witches and monsters. The lucky coincidence of geological and speological conditions has created a double enchantment. The sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern. To get to the Blue Grotto, there are motorboats that leave from the port of Marina Grande and that besides going round the island, stop off here. You can also get to the Grotto by bus (from Anacapri) or by taxi as, after reaching the entrance to the grotto, you have to get into little rowing boats, that take a maximum of two or three persons, and lying on the bottom of them, you are taken through the natural narrow opening. The grotto cannot be visited during adverse weather conditions. G. ADDISON, 1755 I went into one of the caves, which the locals call the Grotta Oscura, and once the light of the sun had left my eyes, I could clearly make out all its features... The opening is low and narrow, but after travelling a bit further in, the sides of the cave open to form an oval measuring roughly a hundred meters from one end to the other. The ceiling is rounded, and from its entire surface it distills fresh water which fell on us like the first drops of a rainstorm. |
|
