In 2026, Capri is celebrating the bicentenary of the modern rediscovery of the Blue Grotto with a series of cultural initiatives exploring the relationship between the island, the sea and the travellers who helped create its international reputation. Among them is Viaggi e Miraggi, the eighteenth edition of Capri’s Festival of Photography. The exhibition will take place from 30 August to 11 October 2026 at the Certosa di San Giacomo.
The Blue Grotto lies beneath the remains of the Roman Villa di Gradola on the north-western coast of Capri. During the Roman period, the cave was probably used as an imperial maritime nymphaeum connected to the villa above. Sculptures once decorated its interior, and some of those recovered from the seabed are now displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Capri. The grotto’s blue colour is created by sunlight entering through an underwater opening and reflecting upwards from the seabed. Although the cave had long been known locally, its modern fame began on 17 August 1826. On that day, German painter and poet August Kopisch entered it with the artist Ernst Fries, accompanied by local boatman Angelo Ferraro and innkeeper Giuseppe Pagano. Their accounts helped introduce the grotto to European travellers and artists. It soon became an important stop on journeys through southern Italy and contributed to Capri’s development as an international destination. For this reason, the anniversary is more accurately described as the bicentenary of its “rediscovery” for the wider public.
The 2026 photography festival is centred on a new project by Italian photographer Paolo Ventura, curated by Denis Curti and presented by Fondazione Capri. Rather than documenting the Blue Grotto directly, Ventura has created six large-scale images inspired by its history and atmosphere. The photographs tell the imaginary story of a castaway who is rescued from the sea and taken to a place suspended between reality and dream. Ventura’s working method combines photography with painting, model-making and theatre. He constructs miniature sets in his studio using paper, cardboard, painted scenery and small figures. He then carefully controls the lighting and perspective before taking the final photograph. The resulting images appear realistic at first, but closer observation reveals that they belong to a handmade and deliberately artificial world. This approach is particularly relevant to the exhibition’s theme. The Blue Grotto is both a real archaeological and natural site and a place whose image has been shaped by two centuries of stories, paintings, photographs and travel accounts.
The exhibition will be installed in the Chiostro Piccolo of the Certosa di San Giacomo. Built between 1371 and 1374, the Certosa is Capri’s most important surviving example of Angevin architecture. After the Carthusian monks were expelled in 1808, the complex served at different times as a hospice, prison, military facility and school. Today it is one of the island’s main cultural sites. It houses the Diefenbach Museum and, since 2024, the Archaeological Museum of Capri, which presents the island during the periods of Augustus and Tiberius. The photography exhibition can therefore be combined with a broader visit to the museum and monastery complex.
Viaggi e Miraggi – Festival di Fotografia a Capri, XVIII Edition
Paolo Ventura, curated by Denis Curti
Chiostro Piccolo, Certosa di San Giacomo
Via Certosa 10, Capri
Opening: 29 August 2026 at 7:00 p.m.
Exhibition dates: 30 August–11 October 2026
September: Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
October: Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
For travel advisors, the exhibition provides an additional cultural element for Capri itineraries in September and early October, particularly for clients interested in photography, archaeology or the history of travel. It can be combined with the Certosa’s permanent collections, a guided walk through Capri or Anacapri and, depending on sea and weather conditions, a visit to the Blue Grotto itself.
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