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VISITING ISCHIA Ischia sightseeing The principal tourist attractions of Ischia are its beaches, sea and spa resorts. The green hilly landscape is attractive, as are the little fishing ports, and you can enjoy a pleasant holiday without seeking out more developed attractions. Time can be happily spent taking boat trips, seeing the island by bus or enjoying food and drink on panoramic terraces above the sea. However, there are some particular sights which are worth seeing if you're staying in Ischia for a few days. The Castello Aragonese at Ischia Ponte is the island's grandest and most dramatic piece of history. A fortress on a high rocky islet, it dominates the surrounding area and offers splendid views. The castle is interesting to explore, and contains several sights of interest, a couple of cafes, and rather macabre museum. A short bus-ride from Ischia Porto lies Ischia Ponte, a charming seaside settlement dominated by the picturesque Castello Aragonese (Aragon Castle). For a combination of convenience and attractiveness, Ischia Ponte is one of the best places to stay on the island. In the evening the narrow main street wandering down to the harbour fills up with the evening walk, a relaxed and sociable affair which climaxes by the sea, where locals hail their friends, tourists eat at terrace tables, and small boats bob on the glassy black water amid the reflected lights of the illuminated castle. There is a good selection of clothes shops, and stores where you can pick up beach paraphernalia before setting off for the busy beaches stretching along the coast towards Ischia Porto. For eating, there is a fair selection of restaurants catering for a range of budgets and tastes. An excellent place to eat on a budget is the unpretentious Sciue Sciue (Via Mazzella 86) where you can enjoy excellent salads and pizzas at outdoors tables while watching comings and goings on the main street. You can also order food to take away. Those with a sweet tooth will enjoy the ice-cream, pastry and frozen yogurt shops, all of which are open until late. Castello Aragonese You should allow at least a couple of hours to look around the castle, which costs around ˆ.. to enter. There are two different sections to visit, divided into an Eastern Itinerary and a Western Itinerary, with plenty of places to sit and admire the views. There are a couple of places to eat (one in each section) which may tempt you to extend your stay longer. A steep covered mule-track runs from the gate up to the higher levels of the fortress, but nowadays a lift takes the strain out of the ascent. The first recorded fortress here was built by the Greek ruler of Syracuse (Siracusa), Gerone, in 474 BC. Over the centuries the islet passed through many hands, and its occupiers (including the Romans, Visigoths, Vandals, Arabs, Normans and Angevins) all left their mark on the structures. After the last eruption of Ischia's Monte Epomeo in 1301, local inhabitants left their damaged homes and moved to the island. Alphonso of Aragon rebuilt the castle over a century later, creating strong fortifications and the bridge linking the islet to mainland Ischia. Living inside these walls, the Ischians were protected from military and piratical marauders, and over a thousand families squeezed onto the rocky slopes. As well as homes, the fortress also sheltered a convent, an abbey, 13 churches and a garrison. However, the Ischians gradually began moving back to the shores of Ischia itself. After shelling by the British in 1809, when the island was held by the French, the damaged buildings were abandoned. During the nineteenth century the islet was used briefly as a prison by the Bourbon rulers of Naples before Italy's unification. Nowadays the island is privately-owned. As well as the sections which are open to tourists (not, sadly, the central fortress building), the island also hosts special events such as concerts and exhibitions. There is also a hotel on the islet, housed in the old convent buildings. Among the most interesting sights within the Castello is the Nuns' Cemetery. The Clarisse order of nuns who lived here from 1575 until 1810 would place their dead on stone seats (with drainage holes) in small cells. The living nuns would then be required to say daily prayers in the company of their decomposing companions, meditating on mortality. This macabre and unhealthy custom unsurprisingly led to illness, and visitors will be relieved to know that the creepy cells are now hygienically empty of corpses. Among the churches left (just about) standing on the island, the most evocative is the ruined Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Cattedrale dell'Assunta). Nearly destroyed by the British shelling of the island, the grand stucco work is open to the elements and is an impressive sight. Underneath, in the crypt, are the remains of an older chapel, dating back to the eleventh and twelfth centuries and decorated with fine frescoes of sts and landscapes. A second macabre sight within the Castello is a small museum at the top of the exit/entrance tunnel. Dedicated to weapons and to instruments of torture, the museum is not for the squeamish. Visitors
interested in gardens will not want to miss La
Mortella Ischia was settled by Greek colonists in around the eighth century BC, who left behind a range of evidence recounting their presence. Archaeological finds are preserved in a museum at Lacco Ameno, the Museo Archeologico Pithecusae, where you can see items including 'Nestor's Cup', a Greek goblet engraved with a poem. To see the island's busily volcanic nature, you should try to visit some of the fumaroles (steaming geysers) and natural hot springs - not just those diverted into swimming pools and spas. Among the sites worth seeing are the Fumarole on the Maronti beach, towards Sant'Angelo (you can walk or take a water taxi from the town). The town's archaeological museum - Museo Archeologico di Pithecusae - is located in Villa Arbusto. The prize exhibit is 'Nestor's Cup', a drinking goblet imported from Rhodes and dating to approximately 725BC, which is decorated with verse. The most well-known image of Lacco Ameno is the Fungo, a mushroom of rock (local green tufa) standing in the waters of the bay. Ischia Beaches Ischia's beaches are famous: long stretches of sand between blue sea and the green hills of the interior. They are also very popular, and in high summer some become crowded masses of sunburnt humanity where strangers lie on paid-for sun beds two feet from each other. For a bit more privacy, visit in early or late summer, or consider taking a water-taxi (or walking) to more inaccessible coves. As elsewhere in Italy, beaches are generally divided up into stabiliments, private businesses who charge an admission price for use of their patch of beach. Some facilities may be included in the basic entrance fee; others will cost extra. Services available generally include deck chairs, sun loungers, towels and changing rooms. There is often a bar or restaurant, meaning you can pass your whole day on the beach, should you wish. However, there are also stretches of free beach, which is a more familiar set-up for overseas visitors. Here you can bring your own towels, buckets and spades etc. and make yourself comfortable at no charge. Especially in peak season, though, you may need to walk some way to find a stretch of free beach. There are about 37 km of coastline, and although some of the shore is rocky, you are never very far from a beach. The coastal towns all have local stretches of seafront where you can sunbathe or swim, and hotel staff can generally give good advice on the best places to go. Some hotels have their own beach stabiliment, or have an arrangement with a local establishment where they will send their guests at reduced prices. Ischia's most renowned beach is the Spiaggia dei Maronti, on the southern shore between Sant'Angelo and Barano. Once, the story goes, it was a favored landing-spot for pirates who would dig pits in which to bury their loot. As well as good swimming, the 3km-long beach offers the unusual treat of a natural thermal spring at Cava Scura. Open-air pools dug in the rock give visitors the opportunity to bathe in the supposedly-therapeutic waters. Another popular beach is Spiaggia Citara, south of Forio, where the much-photographed Giardini Poseidon are the beach-front gardens of a thermal spa, complete with pools and sun beds. Between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte lie two beaches, Spiaggia Mandra and Spiaggia dei Pescatori. Other favorites include the Spiaggia degli Inglesi (Beach of the English), the other side of Ischia Porto.
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the landscape garden created by the composer William
Walton and his wife Susanna. Between Lacco Ameno and
Forio, the garden lies at the foot of Monte Zaro, cut into
an old stone quarry. The garden's designer was Russell
Page, and his aim was to create a landscape which would
offer peace and beauty. There are over 800 plant varieties
as well as features like a Thai sun house, a steel
fountain, pools and cascades. The garden is open to the
public between April and October, on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays and Sundays. Admission costs ˆ 10,00. The
gardens also host occasional concerts.
Lacco
Ameno A
popular destination for holiday-makers, Lacco Ameno is a
lively and crowded resort in the summer months. Situated
to the north of the island, not far from Casamicciola, the
town was the site of an ancient Greek colony, Pithecusae,
reminders of which can be seen in the local archaeological
museum. Like Casamicciola, Lacco Ameno is also packed with
opportunities for taking a thermal 'cure', and many hotels
boast swimming pools fed by the hot springs. 
Sant'Angelo A busy and attractive beach destination,
Sant'Angelo is located on the southern coast of Ischia; a
pretty mixture of hotels and houses piled
higgledy-piggledy on the slopes facing the sea. A small
isthmus, alongside a packed beach, connects the mainland
to a rocky outcrop, which was once topped by a tower
destroyed by the English.