The history of the Convento di Amalfi

The history of Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel includes stints as peaceful cave, Capuchin convent, nautical institute, and luxurious hotel. This beautiful location has enjoyed a fascinating life. A setting for prayer and discovery, home to lemon groves and breathtaking Mediterranean views, this place has inspired artists and travelers from all over the world for hundreds of years.

Timeline created in collaboration with the Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana – Amalfi, Italy

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

In an early instance of the recorded history of the Amalfi Coast, a document drawn up in Naples in 1022 mentions the large cave that would later house the monastery of San Pietro de Toczulo. The document mentions terra vacua - land that could be built on.

In the 11th Century, the simple church of Saint Pietro a Toczolo was built into the cave for the quiet contemplation of Christian Ascetics. In 1212, Amalfitan Cardinal Pietro Capuano built his monastery next to the church.

MONASTIC ORDERS

The site was given to Cistercian monks from Fossanova in 1214 with the promise of forthcoming funds from the Pope to build on the foundations. After nearly 10 years, it became an Abbey under Emperor Federico II of Palermo.

Cappuccini friars took over the convent in 1583. With the help of architect Architect Matteo Vitale, they rebuilt and reorganised to create a wider and reinforced Capuchin convent with individual cells, a refectory and a kitchen.

The monks’ days were filled with reading books and copying them by hand, in order to study and hand them down. Through craftsmanship, cultivating the land and breeding animals, the monks attained economic independence and stayed until 1813.

CHANGING TIMES

After the friars left, the complex was assigned to the Archbishop of Amalfi. He first intended it as an episcopal refectory and later assigned it to a local noble family as a “Locanda” – a cemetery.

From 1826 to 1835 Gregorio Vozzi laid the first foundations for the future hotel. His hostel was known as Palazzo di Pipinella and later Cappuccini Marina.

But in 1836, King Ferdinando II decreed that the Capuchin friars would take the site again. Back home, the friars continued their renovations, including building the marble altar in the rectory and the majolica tiled floor.

In November 1866, Amalfi’s Town Hall Council decided to convert the convent into a Nautical Institute, aiming to re-launch the sailing traditions of the coast. Students launched wooden vessels from the cave as part of their training.

A MODERN ERA

Andrea and Alfredo Vozzi – sons of Gregorio – took on the site in 1882 and realised their father’s dream of an established hotel. Later, Alfredo's nephew, Giuseppe Aielli, would take over hotel operations with his wife and children.

After a devastating landslide in 1899, a new aisle was built, and another in 1939. In the 1930s, the cloisters were restored by the Organisation of Antiques and Monuments of the province of Salerno.

In the late 19th century, guests accessed the hotel in an armchair mounted on poles, carried on men’s shoulders. In 1933, an external glass elevator was installed so guests could ascend while taking in the breathtaking panorama.

A CULTURAL ICON

Inspired by his stay at Cappuccini Hotel, American poet Henry W. Longfellow published his poem, Amalfi, in 1875. It was so popular it was printed on postcards, and he is remembered by the panoramic Passeggiata Longfellow adjacent to the hotel.

It was among the large halls, the rooms and the spectacular portico of the Cappuccini Hotel that American writer Francis Marion Crawford, fond of the Amalfi Coast, located his novel, Adam Johnstone's Son, in 1895.

The former Amalfi convent provided the ideal location for supernatural tales, including Mondnacht in Amalfi (Moonlit Night in Amalfi) by Hermann Bessemer, 1909, or Robert Kohlrausch’s Das Gespenst von Amalfi (The Ghost of Amalfi), 1915.

In a 1922 issue of the French magazine Gazette du Bon Ton, an Art Deco illustration by artist George Barbier shows a lady under Hotel Cappuccini’s columned portico, wearing a dress from the famous Worth fashion house.

The history of the Convento di Amalfi

A Historic Document

Monastic Foundations

A Cistercian Abbey

A Capuchin Convent

Convent Life

A Locanda Briefly

Hotel Dreams

The Monks Return

A Nautical Institute

Hotel Capuccini

Reconstruction

Modernisation

Longfellow's Poem

Crawford's Illustrated Novel

A Gothic Revival

A Fashionable Setting