Chiesa Monumentale di S. Michele

If you’re looking for a hidden gem to explore in Anacapri, the Church of San Michele is a must-see!

Built-in 1719, it’s a prime example of the Neapolitan school’s 18th-century architecture. The church’s most impressive feature is the maiolica tile floor, designed by Leonardo Chiaiese, depicting Archangel Michael expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. However, the floor is delicate and visitors are asked not to walk on it. Instead, a wooden walkway runs along its perimeter. You’ll find depictions of exotic creatures like lions, elephants, crocodiles, and unicorns, all imagined as people of the day would have.

The church was founded by Mother Serafina, who prayed to the Archangel Michael to liberate Vienna from the Turks in 1683. When her prayers were answered, she kept her promise and founded the church and convent in Anacapri in the archangel’s honor. Construction began in 1698 and was completed in 1719, thanks in part to the aid of a Sardinian named Antonio Migliacci, who paid a considerable sum to help fund the project.

After Migliacci’s death, the bishop of Capri, Michele Gallo, ensured the church’s completion and was buried there upon his death. The convent was created on the site of an earlier music conservatory and was modified to accommodate a group of nuns bound by a vow of strict seclusion. During the British occupation of Capri, some of the rooms were used as an armory, and later the nuns were forced to leave Anacapri during French rule.

In 1880, the church was seized from Count Von Poppenheim, a German, and later rediscovered by King Ferdinando I of Bourbon. He reopened it for religious services and donated it to the Lay Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. The High Altar was financed by the Prince of San Nicandro and is made of engraved marble encrusted with precious stones. The altar and the famous angels on either side are Michelangelesque in their luminosity and transparency.