Elizabeth Craven's Villa at Naples

Elizabeth Craven, the Georgian feminist writer, spent the last twelve years of her life living in Italy, in a house overlooking the gulf of Naples. 
The view across the bay to the volcano of Vesuvius was one of the finest in Italy, or indeed in the world.

View Of Naples From Posillipo With Mount Vesuvius Beyond 
by Karl Wilhelm Gottzloff

Travellers described the spot, at Posillipo, as glowingly verdant, the trees hung with vines and the scarlet flowers of the pomegranate brilliant in the hedges. There were very few houses, just the scattered cottages of fishermen and their boats along the rocky coast. In every direction you could see picturesque little islands on the horizon.
One of the landmarks was the tomb of Virgil, in a grotto at Posillipo.  The British artist William Turner made several sketches of it when he visited Naples in 1819, and he also sketched the view across the bay. He might have bumped into Elizabeth Craven as she was already living there, within a stone's throw.
  
Virgil's tomb.

 The house she built was called in her time the Villa Craven. The garden went right down to the sea and looked over the bay.

Villa Craven.

It has survived down to the present day, much altered and enlarged, and now surrounded by other houses, but with the same breathtaking view.


In Naples she often enjoyed the company of her son Keppel, who lived nearby, and saw her almost daily. She kept a sailing boat so that she could explore the gulf and the nearby islands.

Here she wrote one of her most famous poems, which is still popular today. If you would like to know more about Elizabeth Craven, her love of Naples and the scandals which enveloped her even there, read
by Julia Gasper
published by Vernon Press.

https://vernonpress.com/title?id=334



23 Jun 2017 - Elizabeth Craven's fascinating life was full of travel, love-affairs and scandals but this biography, the first to appear for a century, is the only one ...

A sketch of Vesuvius seen from Posillipo, done in 1798 before Elizabeth's house was built. There are still umbrella pines growing along the coast today.






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