Via Vittorio Emanuele III
 | |
Interactive map of Via Vittorio Emanuele III | |
| Former names | La Strettola[1] Tratto Quisisana[2] Via Hohenzollern Via Gloriosi Figli di Capri |
|---|---|
| Type | Pedestrian zone |
| Length | 170 m[3] |
Postal code | 80073 |
Via Vittorio Emanuele III (English: Victor Emmanuel III Street), commonly called Via Vittorio Emanuele, is one of the main streets of Capri.
About two hundred meters long, the street begins at piazza Umberto I and continues until it reaches the small square of Quisisana, where via Camerelle and via Federico Serena begin. The street, which has had more than four different names, owes its fame to the various hotels and venues that were established there; in particular, until the 20th century, it was home to Capri’s historic café, the Zum Kater Hiddigeigei, so named in honor of the cat Hiddigeigei featured in a para-philosophical work by the German poet Joseph Victor von Scheffel.[4]
History
Preamble
In a document dating back to 1551, the street is reported as "La Strettola", and the small chapel located near the arch connecting the Church of Santo Stefano (the seat of the ancient local bishopric) with the City Hall was called "San Giovanni Battista alla Strettola".[4][5]
The first section of the street, the one connecting piazza Umberto I with the end of via Le Botteghe, was widened in 1688 during the construction of the Church of Santo Stefano; the remaining portion remained unchanged up to the height of the former Hotel Pagano.[4]
The German historian Ferdinand Gregorovius, who stayed there, nevertheless described the street as "a narrow little lane which was never traveled by any vehicle" and so narrow as to "hardly allow two people to pass."[4][6]
The Zum Kater Hiddigeigei
A venue located there, the Zum Kater Hiddigeigei (/tsʊm ˈkaːtɐ ˈhɪddɪɡaiɡai/), contributed to making the street famous; the latter was the meeting point for all foreigners, especially Germans, who frequented the island.
The beer hall, defined by Edwin Cerio as the "stronghold of Mediterranean Germanism,"[7] was founded in the 1880s by the Pagano family.
The café was named in honor of the cat Hiddigeigei, a character present in the paraphilosophical poem by Joseph Victor von Scheffel Der Trompeter von Säckingen (The Trumpeter of Säckingen).[4]
The Zum Kater Hiddigeigei was described by Hans Barth as follows:[8]
[...] It is an index of human needs: shoes, liquor bottles, ancient and modern paintings, mahogany tables, shoe wax, boxes of sardines, swim briefs, Swiss cheese, pleasant books, and toothbrushes.
Late nineteenth and twentieth centuries
In tribute to the German community that frequented the island every year, the street was named in 1894 after the Hohenzollern dynasty, thus becoming "via Hohenzollern."[4]
However, even before it was named after the German reigning house, the street was called Tratto Quisisana because it led to the hotel of the same name; residents indeed also call it 'a scesa or 'a sagliuta of Quisisana.[4]
In 1918, shortly after the end of the First World War, the street was dedicated to the Capresi who fell in the war (becoming via Gloriosi Figli di Capri) before assuming its current name in the same year.[9]
See also
- Squares
- Streets
References
- ↑ As reported in a document from 1551
- ↑ The street was also called by the Capresi 'a scesa or 'a sagliuta of Quisisana
- ↑ "Indicazioni stradali - Via Vittorio Emanuele" [Directions - Via Vittorio Emanuele]. Google Maps.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Borà 1992, p. 82.
- ↑ Archivio cartaceo del Catasto, carta 14, n. 325-326.
- ↑ Gregorovius 2010.
- ↑ Cerio 2001, p. 122.
- ↑ Barth 1908, p. 221.
- ↑ Archivio Comunale di Capri, Stradario.
Bibliography
- Cerio, Edwin (2001) [1950]. L'ora di Capri [The Hour of Capri]. Capri: La Conchiglia. ISBN 88-86443-37-4.
- Gregorovius, Ferdinand (2010) [1853]. L'isola di Capri [The Island of Capri]. La Conchiglia. ISBN 978-88-6091-014-1.
- Barth, Hans (1908). Osteria. Kulturgeschichtlicher Führer durch Italiens Schenken von Verona bis Capri [Tavern: Cultural-Historical Guide Through Italy's Inns from Verona to Capri] (in German). Stuttgart.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Borà, Salvatore (1992). I nomi di Capri. Origine e storia di strade, corti e dintorni [The Names of Capri: Origin and History of Streets, Courtyards and Surroundings]. La Conchiglia. ISBN 9788860911230.