Ischia's History
From the main maritime port of the island of Ischia, one can imagine the awe of the Ischian locals as the huge US warships entered the Gulf towards the end of World War II. The size of the ships cast a shadow over the town and sent fishermen scurrying to land their boats before the waves arrived. Yet although the size of those warships would have been something, Ischia was already used to strange comings and goings, hostile as well as welcomed, starting with the formation of island landscape itself.
Ischia's volcanic origins are noted not only in geological textbooks but are confirmed by the Greek myth of Tifeo. An arrogant and rebellious giant, Tifeo was condemned to eternal imprisonment under the island of Pithecusa, now Ischia, by Jupiter, King of the Gods. Tifeo's ranting and roving created the earth tremors and water geysers symbolic of the volcanic activity of the past and the creation of the island now known as Ischia.
Ischia's original name, Pithecusa, appears to derive from the Greek "Pithekos", a monkey or prankster, and has its roots in the landing of a group of Greek colonists from the island of Eubea. The earliest Greek colony in the west, the group settled in the Bay of San Montano, now part of the region of Lacco Ameno, around 770 B.C. The bay was largely immune from volcanic eruptions of the time and offered a safe and comfortable harbour between two hills, Montevico and Mezzatorre.
In this period the island became a flourishing production-house for ceramics and metallurgy. Archaeological digs on the site have unearthed numerous artefacts, the most significant that of "Nestor's Cup". This clay cup was found in a tomb of the Pithecusan necropolis and is inscribed, in the Euboan alphabet, with a three verse epigram referring to the cup of the same name described in Homer's Iliad. In fact trade from Ischia and nearby Cuma were key to passing on the Greek alphabet to the Etruscans, later developing into Latin.
As the Greek era ended, Ischia fell under Roman rule and the island took the name Aenaria, from the Latin "aenum", bronze, confirming the ongoing metallurgic activity in the region. During this phase of the island's history it was often subject to violent eruptions and earthquakes that slowed development and limited its habitable areas.
From the end of the fourth century A.C. Ischia was caught up in the progressive decline of the Roman Empire, often depredated by barbarian invasions. In 813 A.C. the Saracens overran the island, followed by the Neapolitan Duchy, who governed for over two centuries only temporarily interrupted by the Normans. With the end of Naples' power, the island followed the mainland's fate, passing under the successive control of the Swabian, Angevin and Aragonese dynasties.
In 1228 an earthquake killed over 800 people on Ischia and caused huge damage. In 1301 a volcanic eruption again drastically reduced the island's population. After the eruption the island remained largely uninhabited for some years until a group of refugees returned to live inside the island's castle at Ischia Ponte. Enclosed in the protective fortress of the Aragonese Castle and under the economic fertility and wellbeing of the Bourbon dynasty, Ischia's population slowly grew again. The Bourbons instituted a development program to improve infrastructure as well as build the port facilities, now Ischia Porto, and religious sites.
When the Bourbon regime fell, Ischia was annexed to the province of Naples and became part of the newborn Kingdom of Italy.
In 1881 and '83 two more seismic quakes hit. The town of Casamicciola especially suffered widespread damage and at the beginning of the 1900s many Ischians left the island, emigrating to North America in search of work. Those that remained began to create the first modern tourist structures as a means of economic development and subsistence. In between the two world wars, the fascist regime implemented a series of initiatives aimed at increasing the island's liveability and economic viability.
After the war, at the beginning of the '60s, Ischia experienced a true tourist boom. Newly built avant-garde hotels and thermal facilities attracted some of the world's most rich and famous. Stars such as Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, business figures like Jacqueline Kennedy, Aristotle Onassis and Angelo Rizzoli, as well as artists Luchino Visconti, Elsa Morante, Pierpaolo Pasolini, Pablo Neruda and Alberto Moravia.
Illustrious visitors helped spread the fame and notoriety of the "green isle". It became the scene of a string of successful films and cover shoots as well as cementing a place in the heart of visitors from around the world.
Today, the lights of cruise liners have replaced warship shadows and it's tourists rather than barbarians and liberators who are guided into Ischia's safe harbours. Ischia of the 21st century is a holiday destination, with clean seas, natural thermal springs, fresh food and a relaxing pace, but no less a place of historical intrigue and cultural interest.
