Island of Ischia (all ports)

Ferries and hydrofoils to Ischia take visitors to discover one of the most fascinating islands in the Mediterranean. Ischia, in fact, is among the most renowned spas and seaside resorts in the world. With over sixty thousand residents, it is the most inhabited of the smaller islands in Italy and has a rich history to tell, being the oldest colony in Magna Grecia .

Founded in the eighth century BC by colonists from the Euboea island, Pithecusa (this is the Greek name of the island) in the following centuries acquired considerable commercial importance, especially in trade with the island of Elba, before being gradually abandoned to cause of seismic and volcanic instability.

To see the Museum of Villa Arbusto in Lacco Ameno, where the Nestor's Cup is kept , the archaeological find certifying the primacy of Pithecusa which we mentioned earlier .

The Greeks, who mostly settled in the bay of San Montano (municipality of Lacco Ameno), followed the Romans who instead preferred to settle in the bay of Cartaromana (municipality of Ischia), while in modern age the history of the island traces the vicissitudes and vicissitudes of the Kingdom of Naples first, and of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies then.

After the Second World War the definitive tourist take-off with the opening of thermal parks and numerous hotels. Tourism, however, has not supplanted the agricultural and seafaring vocation of the area . The viticulture, in fact, continues to be a fundamental aspect of identity island, and some islanders wines, firmly in the DOP and IGT circuits, are exported around the world. Also theresmall continuous fishing, guaranteeing fresh raw materials to the many restaurants that, especially during the summer, welcome tourists who choose Ischia for their holidays.