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PALAZZO SANTA CROCE
This small monastery, standing on a rock directly above Positano's bay, it was built as an Episcopal residence. In 1716, during the baroque age, it was enriched by particular and precious objects from the middle-east and other country of the world, thanks to the fact that Positano was situated along the main courses of spices, silk goods and products imported in the
Old Continent. The merchants couldn't do less than stop here, fascinated by the magic atmosphere of the town, leaving not only works of art, but, most of all, a mix of culture and traditions of ancient populations. Palazzo Santa Croce is still storing this human heritage among the painted ceiling, the lacquered doors, the inlaid-wood furniture, the stucco-works and the ancient laces hand-made by the master craftsman of that time. The Villa never lost his magnificence, even when the world wars brought to Positano privation and poverty, PSC preserved its luxury, surrounded with breathtaking landscape that made, and still make, of
Positano a natural miracle. Since the beginning of the year '900, day by day, Positano became the alcove of artists and literary men, maybe arrived the first time only by mistake, but so inspired by the place to come back again and again and again…
The same was to Edward Ghillausen, a Bauhaus member, artistic and philosophical movement suppressed by political reasons that we all know. Being a Jewish, he had to escape to Italy finding refuge in Rome. In the "Eternal City" he met and fall in love with Eva Maria Vivaldi and together they decided to live the rest of their life in the " Heaven on Earth": Positano. Until the year 2000, Mr Ghillausen and Mrs Vivaldi, nearly hundred years old, impregnated PSC with their culture and that of their illustrious guests: the Neapolitan Caprile, the German Richard Oelze, Picasso, Carrà, Siegfried Kracauer, John Steinbeck, Corrado Alvaro, Dino Buzzati, Alberto Moravia and between 1939-1945 the house was refuge of persecutes running away from the Na**sm, like Stefan Andres, whose name was given to the roads that leads to the palace. Armin Wegner, Martin Wolf and the Russian painter Ivan Zagaruiko were their friends, too. Each of them left in PSC a bit of their souls… a piece of their hearts. John Steinbeck wrote: "…when you discover a wonderful place like this, the spur of the moment is to hide your discovery. You'll think, if I’ll tell someone, the place will get full of tourists that will min it, people of the town will live only for tourism business and so... good-bye to your wonderful discovery…"
All that didn't happen! PSC its always under the same magic spell, giving to its select guests a charming holiday. Today's owners, Giacomo, an artist, and Riccardo, an antique dealer, were Ghillausen's guests. During their visit at the palace they both could feel the magic power of the place. They wanted to preserve it and today they share, with few privileged guests, the never ending moments of peace and joy that fill up heart and soul, stopping the time and watching, like in a silent film, at the panorama and at the life of a land more singular than rare. PALAZZO SANTA CROCE
I ‘m very pleased to give you some information about our propriety. Palazzo Santa Croce, it’s an historical house of 1700 totally decorated with antic furniture and painting like a museum house. The principal entrance is from the second floor, but you can access to the house also from the forth floor. From this entrance you cross a Mediterranean garden full of bougainvilleas, lemon and orange tries, from which we make the natural juice and home made marmalades that we serve for the breakfast. On the first floor there is the S.P.A, which also has an independent entrance, that it can be used also from the service. Here, on the terrace there is a fountain made in a pompeianan style which is a whirlpool bath looking on the see. Inside there is a heat swimming pool full of whirlpool bath and an oxygen therapy with different position to swim in, to get “healthy and beauty”. The S.P.A is composed also of one Sauna with therapy shock( hot- cold) a Tiepidarium, showers, and a massage place where a professional doctor do the anti-stress Massage, Manual lymphatic drainage, strengthening massage, sport massage(post-event or pre-event), deep tissue massage. Every massage last 50 minutes. In all this area there is a relaxing music and a plasma tv. From this part of the house you get to the second floor ( by an interior stairs) and there is a big kitchen, where you can have the typical local dishes made in a traditional way from our cook. On the same floor there is a big room which you can use like a dining room, relaxing room, or working room, because there is a computer with all the services( WiFi,Adsl line, fax, mail…) to work in total relax. Here there is also a big library full of old and new books, where you can get a look at the books write by John Steinback, writer who gets in this house his own inspiration. At the third floor there are two big suites with the correspondent bathroom. On the fourth floor ( which has an independent entrance) there is a penthouse with two bedrooms, decorated in Mediterranean style (white wood beam on the roof) with one big bathroom full of antic Neapolitan ceramics mosaic of 1700 for both bedrooms. This area is perfect from young people or guest of the family. All the house is full of terraces, garden with a spectacular view on the beach of Positano. We offer also two persons for the services and one butler.
