"Il Fortino"

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In the year 27 AC, the Roman Emperor Tiberius, tired of the plots taking place in Rome and saddened by his son and appointed heir’s death, chose a self-imposed exile from Rome and retired to Capri, the isle that Octavian Augustus had conquered fifty years earlier. He was the first of many illustrious “foreigners” to choose Capri as a retreat destination. Tiberius retired to this island having a surface area of only 4 square miles and blessed with a divine climate, at the highest and inaccessible point: on the top of mount Tiberius, 354 meters above sea level. He could finally live in peace and pursue his passion for culture and science. He was 67 years old. He never went back to Rome and ran the Empire from there until his death on March 16th in the year 37 AC., the first time he set foot on the mainland again, to take part in a hunt at the Circeo. During his ten-year stay on the isle, he built 12 villas.

One of the most beautiful among the twelve Roman villas is Il Fortino. An extraordinary house perched on a cliff dropping sheer to the sea surrounded by a park full of rare plants.
The villa is said to have been built by Augustus and later on renovated and enlarged by Tiberius: it covered a vast area near the so-called “Tiberius baths” and its core was located in the area occupied today by the former Villa Williams Bismark, embraced by a large and fragrant garden set on two levels and from which one can enjoy the view of Marina Grande. The construction is also known as “Fortino” because it later on annexed some fortifications built by the French in the early 1800s. Further elements have been added to the medieval embattled tower with double lancet windows, the most impressive of which is a Moresque spire. Villa Bismarck comprises four independent houses: Casina dei Fiori, Palazzina degli Ospiti, Palazzina dei Camerieri and Villa Mona. Villa Mona was owned by Edwige Fenech for many years and, at present, by a well-known Neapolitan entrepreneur. On a cruise with her husband William, Mona Harrison{Bismark} discovered Il Fortino abandoned and turned it into her home.