There is an ancient legend linked to theIsle of Capri in which it is told of a poor shepherd boy, orphaned of a father, who did not possess any material goods other than a sheep. It is said that one evening, at dusk, the boy had lingered to pick some flowers and when he had turned to call the sheep to him, the latter had disappeared from his sight. “My only sheep is lost!” – cried the shepherd boy in despair – “How will I do now?”. At one point, however, he thought he heard a faint ringing from afar and, thinking it was the sound of the bell that the sheep wore around his neck, he headed in the direction from which the tinkling came.
He began to run barefoot among the brambles and stones, while the night had already arrived, until he reached the edge of a ravine and here a sudden light stopped him. Wrapped in a golden radiance he made his appearance San Micheal, shining on his white horse. "My child" - said the Saint, slipping off his neck a bell that hung on his chest – “take this and always follow its sound, it will save you from all danger”. The shepherd boy, trembling with emotion and joy, soon found the sheep and headed home, bringing the bell as a gift to his mother. Since then his life changed forever and every earthly desire of him was fulfilled.
From this legend, the tradition of giving the Bell of Capri as a gift to people we consider truly special has then established itself over time so that, with each toll, their every wish can come true.
