The Pizzolungo (High Peak) is a quaint rock shape, a crag that stands out among the greenery and assumes different aspects according to the point from which you see it. Seen from the front it shows a compact and heavy structure, tormented and rough, which suddenly turns to its sharp point. Seen from behind it shows a slender and smooth face rising upwards to the sky, with a light appearance. At the foot of the Pizzolungo there is a graceful viewpoint right over Faraglioni, divided into two small balconies facing both sides of the crags.

The small cove behind the Faraglioni (also called "Port of Tragara", because here was the landing point for the Roman Emperor's villa of Tragara) is sheltered by a fourth lower crag named "Monacone", perhaps because of the presence of a small colony of monach seals that lived on its slopes. The discovery of Roman steps on Monacone fuelled the legend that this stack was made into a funerary monument for Masgaba, the African architect that built the imperial Roman villas on Capri. There is, however, no evidence to support this supposition.

Near irregular rocky column of Pizzolungo, in a wild and uncontaminated nature, at the beginning of 20th c. were built some villas, among which Villa Solitaria by Edwin Cerio, an important islander architect (he was also Mayor of the island) who identified in his books the traditional Capri-building style. After gone beyond Pizzolungo, the way winds along the rocky slope of eastern side of the island. The narrow road climbs over the slope following its turns and covering a curvilinear route which integrates harmonously into the landscape without disfiguring it. A wide view over the sea and as background the Sorrento's Peninsula and the Gulf of Salerno. From time to time, along the way appear at our sight some unexpected views over the sea from sheer cliffs. Such is the silence and quitness of these places that we can easily hear waves breaking against the rocks below, even when the sea is fairly smooth. In these untouched zones the only human work is the way we're walking on: no houses, only rocks, plants, sky and sea.  [ More...]