Villa Rufolo is a building within the historic center of Ravello

Ravello

Ravello is a town and comune situated above the Amalfi Coast in the province of Salerno, Campania, southern Italy, with has approximately 2,500 inhabitants. It is a popular tourist destination.-History:...

, a town in the province of Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and which overlooks the front of the cathedral square. The initial layout dates from the thirteenth century, with extensive remodeling in the nineteenth century.

History

Originally belonging to the powerful and wealthy Rufolo family who excelled in commerce (a Landolfo Rufolo has been immortalized by Boccaccio in the Decameron), it then passed by inheritance to other owners such as the Confalone and Muscettola.

Around the middle of the nineteenth century it was sold to the Scotsman Francis Neville Reid who took care of a general restoration, resulting in today's layout.

The villa is entered through an opening in the arched entrance tower, and after a short street a clearing is dominated by the Torre Maggiore: the latter facing the bell tower of the cathedral in Ravello, overlooking the terraces (upper and lower) as well as overlooking the Amalfi Coast

Amalfi Coast

-In popular culture:The Amalfi Coast is a popular destination among tourists. It was featured in "Positano," a short story written by American author John Steinbeck in 1953...

 and the Gulf of Salerno

Gulf of Salerno

The Gulf of Salerno is a gulf of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the coast of the province of Salerno in south-western Italy. The northern part of this coast is the touristic Costiera Amalfitana, including towns like Amalfi, Maiori, Positano and the city of Salerno itself.The Gulf of Salerno is separated...

 with flower gardens that are in bloom most of the year.

Of particular interest among the rooms of the villa is a large courtyard elevated like a cloister

Cloister

A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...

 and some rooms forming a small museum.

The German opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 composer Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

 visited the villa in 1880. He was so overcome by the beauty of the location that he imagined the setting as the garden of Klingsor

Klingsor

Klingsor may refer to:Fictional figures:*Klingsor , magician and duke in the medieval German epic poem Parzival*Klingsor, the magician who prophecies the birth of Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia...

 in the second act of Parsifal

Parsifal

Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...

. In commemoration, every year the lower garden of Villa Rufolo hosts a Wagnerian concert.