Path To Glory
One of the world’s most beautiful and challenging footpaths – the Via Krupp on the Italian island of Capri – is to re-open after more than 30 years.
The path, cut into a vertical cliff in 1902, has been closed since a landslide in 1976. But a reconstruction project has restored the route to its former glory and secured the area against falling rocks.
Authors including Jean-Paul Sartre and Thomas Mann were enchanted by the path. It was so popular that even when it was closed, tourists would slip under the barriers to see it. Large gates had to be put up to keep them away.
Via Krupp, which is only 1,420 yards long, was commissioned by the German industrialist, Friedrich Krupp and designed and built by the engineer Emilio Mayer. He cut through the rock creating a series of hairpin bends set so close together they appear almost to overlap.
The path will re-open next month as part of a plan to boost Capri’s tourism over the summer.
by Andy Moreton
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