The Sweet Smell of Capri

If you’ve been to Capri you know that it is a jubilation for all of the senses – the feel of the warm Mediterranean breeze as it brushes your skin, the sound of the turquoise water as it crashes onto the rocky shores, the magnificent sights that greet you around every turn, the taste of the bountiful foods available at the open-air cafes in the Piazetta and, of course, the smell of the rosemary plants, wild carnations and other native flowers that fill the meadows around the island.

While you can’t bring the island home with you, you can take the wonderful scents of Capri.  Not far from the Piazetta, on a path that leads along the coast to the unbelievable overlook at the Gardens of Augustus, you’ll find the factory store of the Perfumes of Carthusia (located at spot #224 of our Discovery Walk in Capri).

According to legend, the wonderful perfume that is made here was created in 1380 when the Father Prior of the nearby Carthusian Monastery arranged a large bouquet of flowers to present to Queen Giovanna during one of her visits to the island. He gathered blossoms from all of the most beautiful flowers on the island and presented the bouquet in a vase to the Queen.

Apparently the water in the vase was not changed for three days and when the flowers were finally thrown out the water in the vase had acquired a scent that no one had ever known before. With the help of an alchemist the monastery’s Father was eventually able to identify the source of the aroma and the very first perfume of Capri had been created.

Today, the same methods developed by those Carthusian monks more than 600 years ago are still used to produce the Carthusia aromas right here, using the essence of the rosemary plants that grow wild on the island to produce the scents for men and the essence of the island’s wild carnations to produce the perfumes for women.

So if you’re looking for the perfect souvenir to bring back from the legendary island of Capri look no farther than the natural scents of the island that you’ll find produced right here (http://www.carthusia.it/CarthusiaWeb/showpage/2).