ELIOS RESIDENCE

Sapri, wonderful pearl of the Gulf of Policastro, was founded and developed in a territory in which history is the protagonist. When Herodotus in his works of "Cider" wrote about where the refugees from Sybaris in 510 BC fled to, he may have been referring to Sapri; according to other sources Sapri was instead Sapros, a swampy area but geographically located in an enviable place, in a bay that served as a natural harbor for the Greek settlers and was later fixed up, becoming a very important point for maritime traffic in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea; according to others it was perhaps Avenia, big Etruscan town long disputed between the Etruscans and Romans before disappearing after a violent cataclisma. Putting aside the uncertainty about its historical origin, we can surely affirm that what makes this city interesting is its great geographical location and the beauty of its fabulous landscape, gently wrapped between the crystal sea and a picturesque hilly area. This exact location, together with a mild climate, is what promped Sapri's touristic vocation. Cicero had in fact named it "parva gemma maris inferi" (small gem of the Southern Sea). The Eastern Roman Emperor Massimiliano Erculio used to spend the summer in a patrician villa built in the 1st Century AD due to the mild climate and the beauty of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the sad war events and some violent natual events have destroyed many of the ancient testimonies of the past. However, in the 'Santa Croce' area there still are some testimonies of the ancient cults of the city. There arent's many traces of the imposing building with a private docking, a spa a theatre and mosaics of a certain artistic significance but the hillside reisdence was to be one of the largest seaside villas of the Republican Age.