Ischia

Ischia, the island of regeneration, energy, beauty and history.

However, this treasure chest of delights has been plundered, desecrated and subjected to countless abuses over the years. This history of abuse continues in the present, while the lure of quick money continues to play its role in illegal construction projects, damaging the land and the environment.

Ischia’s history is littered with owners and sub-owners who have seized, lost and seized the island, often to the dismay of its inhabitants and the damage to its land.

However, despite the scars strewn over its past, Ischia has an enduring beauty and appeal, thanks to its wealth of natural resources. The island has a unique source of thermal springs, spas, volcanic mud and precious minerals.

Thus healing and renewal have become a resource through which the island has recovered its economy and found its zenith as a wellness center for countless visitors.

It is the largest of the three islands off the coast of Naples, (Procida, Capri and Ischia), and holds more than this trinity of beauty rising from the azure waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This paradise seems a million miles away from the winding, energetic streets of Naples (in reality just a short ferry ride away) and offers pleasures for the more intrepid or timid traveler.

Forty kilometers of coastline offer ample opportunities for sun-soaked relaxation. Inland, mountainous terrain awaits those who enjoy climbing. The peaceful pleasure of fertile volcanic hills offers less energetic strollers the chance to enjoy a vantage point over the island without getting short of breath.

For the more urbane visitor, there is the elegant and bustling town of Sant’Angelo with its quaint boutiques, local ceramics and artisanal goods.

Nearby Forio is known for its bars and tree-lined avenues, while the Port of Ischia for ferries from the metropolis of Naples, offers nightclubs and high-end shopping. The Port of Ischia is also famous for the imposing Aragonese Castle, full of stories of blood and thunder.

In the past, the castle was the town itself, with 1900 families, various religious orders and 13 churches. The castle served as a refuge and defense from the regular pirate attacks that plagued the island in the past. It is now a fascinating museum.

Whatever your favorite pastime, there are therapeutic mud baths, spas, thermal cures and very guaranteed treatments to unwind, making room from the relentless march forward of twentieth-century life as we know it.

Ischia’s history is as rich and varied as its climate and natural properties, starting with the Greeks, who colonized the island in the 8th century BC naming it Pithecusa which translated means “monkey”, in reference to the prevalence of these animals on the island in ancient times.

Unlike today, the volcano was active. Perhaps due to an eruption, the island was abandoned by its original inhabitants and the more temperate city of Cumae was founded on the mainland.

Ischia was then resettled by Neapolitans, whose explosive character perhaps suited its volcanic activity. In 474 BC, Hiero of Syracuse was waging war against the Etruscans and as part of a mission to fortify all of Naples, he left a garrison on Ischia and planned a castle to protect the island’s capital (also known as Ischia). He emerged victorious from the battle and the castle was built.

In 6 AD, after his visit to Capri, Emperor Augustus, desperate to obtain the island, exchanged Naples for Ischia, which once again fell into Neapolitan hands. However, successful defenses had proven in the past, they were ineffective against the Romans a few centuries later, and in 322 BC the Romans conquered and took Naples and Ischia.

The list of invaders since then is daunting. The first group, apart from the constant stream of marauding pirates, included the Heruli, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Saracens and Normans, who heralded what some call the “first Renaissance” under Roger II.

The Normans were followed by Roger II’s grandson, Frederick II of Swabia, whose mother was a Norman and his father was Henry VI, Duke of Swabia. His reign, for the most part, was peaceful, following the tolerant and eclectic vision of government that Roger II had initiated.

The Angevins who had made their mark, with papal support, on Campania and Sicily, were followed for a time by Alfonso V of Aragon, who in 1441 rebuilt the ancient Greek fort on a grand scale into the great castle it is today and which quickly became the scene of many struggles for the transfer of power.

Under Aragonese rule, Alfonso V, proclaimed the island a colony for the Spanish kingdom of Castile. He then built a bridge connecting the castle and its inhabitants with the world beyond its walls on the rest of the island.

By 1550, the threat of invasion by pirates and Pisan warriors had subsided, and the population moved from the coastal watchtowers to more comfortable ground inland, forming the beginnings of what is now the town of Ischia. In its present form the town has six communes, or administrative areas. From where, although the beach has always been accessible, it was no longer of central importance.

During this period Ischia was fraught with struggles slipping and falling from the hands of Durres to the power of Anjou (which had returned from the days of the House of Aragon), and back again, as the rival houses squabbled over possession of the jewel of the Mediterranean.

By 1700, the Bourbons were in custody of the island which in 1806 fell into French possession until it fell prey to the English, in pursuit of the French. Finally a devastating earthquake stopped it, scattering intruders.

Ischia finally found tranquility in modernity, and since the invention of the Grand Tour it has been subjected to nothing worse than invasions of fleets of tourists, exploring the island on the picturesque three-wheeled microtaxis equipped for tourism.

These visitors are mostly German, many of whom remain on the island permanently, enriching Ischia’s coffers and enjoying its unique pleasures.