Villa Rufolo

Small towns like Sorrento, Ravello, and Amalfi are built into the craggy cliffs all around Positano, each with its own set of legends, myths, churches, villas and complex history going back centuries in time. With transportation having its own set of complexity, Pam and I opted for a driver to further us down the Amalfi Drive.

Pro drivers like Alessandro are essential! Every turn is a tight squeeze.

The gardens at Villa Rufolo are legendary and together with the views, it was a glorious day.

A 13th-century Moorish Tower marks your entrance to Villa Rufolo in Ravello. The cloister with its colonnade of pointed arches is a perfect example of the Arabic-Sicillian style of the period. Some believe it to be a smaller version of Spain’s famed Alhambra.   The renaissance author, Boccaccio, wrote the story of the villa and published Decameron in 1353 and hints of hidden treasure and royal banquets were legendary.

The famous German Composer, Richard Wagner, wrote his second act of Parsifal at the villa. The town has become knows as a “city of music” and center for the  annual summer concert series that brings visitors from all over the world from March thru October to the grand orchestral performance stage on the villa’s piazza below.

Moorish tower Villa Rufolo entrance

Moorish Cloister Villa Rufolo

The imposing interior has not been restored.

It is the gardens to which visitors flock and whose breathtakingly lush floral patterns beam proudly all year:

Floral patterns blend with never ending views.