Lacco Ameno

La Mortella (Italian: place of myrtles) is a private garden in the island of Ischia, Italy. It was first opened to the public in 1991. It was created by Susana Walton (1926–2010), wife of the composer William Walton, starting in the 1950s as the main residence for the couple. Tropical and Mediterranean plants were planted and some have now reached considerable proportions. The gardens include views over the city and harbour of Forio. The British garden designer Russell Page provided advice on the initial design, but the garden evolved over the course of more than 50 years of development by Lady Walton. After her husband died in 1983, his ashes were kept under a rock on this island. She opened the garden to the public in 1991 and handed over management and eventually ownership to the Fondazione William Walton.A museum dedicated to the life and work of William Walton is now part of the garden complex. It hosts the William Walton Foundation and a Greek Theatre where Italian and foreign schools of music perform more than 70 weekend concerts, plus masterclasses and a programme for composers from Harvard University. In 2004 it was awarded First Prize as il più bel parco d’Italia (the most beautiful park in Italy) by the American company Briggs & Stratton, against competition from 100 other gardens.

Ischia ( ISK-ee-ə, Italian: [ˈiskja], Neapolitan: [ˈiʃkjə]) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km (19 mi) from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately 10 km (6 mi) east to west and 7 km (4 mi) north to south and has about 34 km (21 mi) of coastline and a surface area of 46.3 km2 (17.9 sq mi). It is almost entirely mountainous; the highest peak is Mount Epomeo, at 788 m (2,585 ft). The island is very densely populated, with 62,000 residents (more than 1,300 inhabitants per square km).Ischia is also well known for its thermal water and thermal gardens used since ancient times. Its volcanic nature makes Ischia one of the largest spas in Europe. Ischia's thermal waters are alkaline. Already the first Euboic settlers (8th century BC), as evidenced by the numerous archaeological finds found in the site of Pithecusa and preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Villa Arbusto in Lacco Ameno, appreciated and used the waters of the island's thermal springs. The Greeks, in fact, used the thermal waters to restore the spirit and the body and as a remedy for the healing of the after-effects of war wounds (in the pre-antibiotic era), attributing supernatural powers to the waters and vapors that gushed from the earth; it is no coincidence that temples dedicated to divinities such as that of Apollo in Delphi rose in every spa town. Strabo, a Greek historian and geographer, mentions the island of Ischia and the virtues of its thermal springs in his monumental geographical work (Geograph. Lib. V). If the Greeks were the first peoples to learn about the powers of thermal waters, the Romans exalted them as an instrument of care and relaxation through the creation of public Thermae and they used the numerous springs of the island surely and profitably (as evidenced by the votive tablets found at the Source of Nitrodi in Barano d'Ischia, where there was a small temple dedicated to Apollo and to the Nitrodie Nymphs, guardians of the waters) even without lavish settlements; In fact, on the island, as in Rome and in other ancient thermal centres, no impressive vestiges of thermal buildings have been found, probably due to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that frequently violently shook the crags. The decline of the power of Rome coincided with the abandonment of the use of bathrooms also in Ischia: in fact, there are no traces of the use of water in the Middle Ages. Ischia is the name of the main comune of the island. The other comuni of the island are Barano d'Ischia, Casamicciola Terme, Forio, Lacco Ameno and Serrara Fontana.

Mount Epomeo (Italian: Monte Epomeo) is the highest mountain on the volcanic island of Ischia, in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. Epomeo is believed to be a volcanic horst. Reaching a height of 789 metres (2,589 ft), it towers above the rest of Ischia. Much of Epomeo is covered in lush greenery, with a few vineyards also occupying its slopes. Approximately 75 metres (246 ft) from the peak the mountain is covered in white lava. A path leads to the summit of the mountain from Fontana, one of its quiet traditional villages.

Giardini Ravino is an Italian botanical garden specialized in succulent plants and cacti, located on the island of Ischia, Campania, southern Italy, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Giardini Ravino, along with the mature areas around Villa Ravino, is the result of 45 years of great passion and loving work of Signor Peppino, the villa's owner. Exotic trees include palms, olives, and lemon and orange trees. Grape vines and flowering climbers cascade over the walls, pergolas, and terraces.

Citara (Italian: Spiaggia di Citara) is a beach located in Forio d'Ischia, in the Ischia island of Italy, near Punta Imperatore and the village of Panza. Its name comes from Romans who consecrated the site to Venus Citarea, whose statue made of white marble was found in the area. An old legend has it that the rocks, which can be seen from the beach, were in origin sailors transformed into stones as a punishment for passing through. The reference is from Odysseus, in which it is told that “Feaci” (the people living at “Scheria”, a place in the Tyrrhenian area which has been identified with Ischia) provided Ulysses with a boat to get home, so the goddess Venus punished them for helping him. On Citara Beach the Poseidon Thermal Garden is provided with a series of sea and thermal water swimming pools. It is known for its sun catching position and limpid sea. Spring water gushes into the sea.

Barano d'Ischia is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located in the south-west area of Ischia island, about 30 km southwest of Naples. It is after Forio the largest comune in size of the island, although not one of the most populated. Its territory is composed by several small villages: Buonopane, Piedimonte, Fiaiano, Testaccio (no one of this small villages has become a frazione); Testaccio was formerly an independent municipality. Barano d'Ischia borders the following municipalities: Casamicciola Terme, Ischia, Serrara Fontana.

Punta Imperatore Lighthouse (Italian: Faro di Punta Imperatore) is an active lighthouse located atop an impressive overhanging promontory in the westernmost point of Ischia, Campania on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The lighthouse serves Naples as sighting approach.

Panza (sometimes Panza d'Ischia) is a small town of 7,000 inhabitants on the island of Ischia, Italy. It is a hamlet (frazione) of the municipality of Forio.

Ischia Porto Lighthouse (Italian: Faro di Ischia Porto) is an active lighthouse located on the northern end of the western mole of the Port of Ischia, Campania on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Diocese of Ischia (Latin: Dioecesis Isclana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Campania, southern Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples. The diocese comprises the entire island of Ischia, which contains seven communes divided into two circumscriptions. In 1743, the population was about 4,000. The city of Ischia constituted one single parish, with two religious houses of men and one of women. In 2018, the population of the town of Ischia was 20,118.

Ischia is a town and comune on Ischia island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Administratively it is part of the Metropolitan city of Naples, in the Campania region in southern Italy. It is famed for its thermal baths due to the volcanic nature of the island.

Aragonese Castle (Italian: Castello Aragonese) is a castle next to Ischia (one of the Phlegraean Islands), at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, Italy. The castle stands on a volcanic rocky islet that connects to the larger island of Ischia by a causeway (Ponte Aragonese). A first castle was built by Hiero I of Syracuse in 474 BC. At the same time, two towers were built to control enemy fleets' movements. The rock was then occupied by Parthenopeans (the ancient inhabitants of Naples). In 326 BC the fortress was captured by Romans, and then again by the Parthenopeans. In 1441 Alfonso V of Aragon connected the rock to the island with a stone bridge instead of the prior wood bridge, and fortified the walls in order to defend the inhabitants against the raids of pirates. Around 1700, about 2000 families lived on the islet, including a Poor Clares convent, an abbey of Basilian monks (of the Greek Orthodox Church), the bishop and the seminar, the prince with a military garrison. There were also thirteen churches. In 1809, the British troops laid siege to the island, then under French command, and shelled it to almost complete destruction. In 1912, the castle was sold to a private owner. Today the castle is the most visited monument of the island.It is accessed through a tunnel with large openings which let the light enter. Along the tunnel there is a small chapel consecrated to John Joseph of the Cross (Italian: San Giovan Giuseppe della Croce), the patron saint of the island. Outside the castle are the Church of the Immacolata and the Cathedral of Assunta. The first was built in 1737 on the location of a smaller chapel dedicated to Saint Francis, and closed after the suppression of Convents in 1806 as well as the nunnery of the Clarisses.The castle was used as Riza's 'Fortified Fortress' in the 2019 film Men in Black: International. It was also mentioned in the book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.