Those with a wanderlust spirit dream of adventure. I swear my adventures started in another time. I truly believe I lived royally in several past lives, which most certainly included Italy.
I had never been to Ravello before but it came highly recommended as the destination to get a bird’s eye view of the Amalfi Coast. Once atop the towering village I discovered the ruins of the most fascinating Villa Rufolo, built in 1270 by Nicola Rufolo, one of the richest Patricians of Ravello.
Moorish design of Villa Rufolo
There had actually been a villa on the site since the 11th century but the building that is there today was started by Nicola. I say started because it evolved over the next six hundred years as it passed through many hands, falling into disrepair, until the Victorian era when it was sold to Scottish nobleman Francis Neville Reid. Fortunately for the Villa Rufolo, Reid was a great lover of art and culture and completely restored the palace with the assistance of Michael Ruggiero, then director of the excavations of Pompeii.
The multi-level home emanates from a central cloister courtyard and its rich Moorish design. The Victorians of the 1850s and 60s were fascinated by the Arabesque style and worked it into all design elements of Victorian life. It added to the exotic and erotic natures they were exploring from the closeted corners of their close-knit world. This Arabesque influence was quite possibly the reason Reid was so attracted to the Villa and eager to restore its beauty.
As for this wanderlust woman, I was enchanted by the site’s romantic history, partially recreated by Boccaccio in the Decameron. Lorenzo Rufolo was a rich merchant who fell into ruin and became a pirate. Don’t you just love it? He was taken prisoner by the Genoese and eventually died in prison. However, Boccaccio’s Landolfo Rufolo was tossed to sea, and while clinging to a treasure chest of jewels, he washed ashore and was rescued by a beautiful woman. Would that it were the other way to be rescued by the bronzed muscular descendant of a Roman god! (This region pulsates with romance and vibrates with weddings on almost a daily basis.)
Wee wanderer in Villa's gardens
The Villa’s gardens give a splendid view of the Amalfi coastline and offer extraordinary color in early spring. It’s as if the flowers set a frame for the blue horizon below. Perhaps it is the garden of Eden.
My one regret was that my visit was too short. The next time I must take time to really stop and smell the flowers, which is so easy to do as jasmine perfumes the air everywhere. Ciao, ciao!
