The history of Ischia Island

8th century BC Ischia is the first stable colony of Magna Grecia in the Italian peninsula. The Euboeans in 770-760 a.c. are the first Greeks to land in the bay of San Montano, where they establish the settlement of Pithecusa.

4th century BC At the end of the 4th century AD the bell-country towns of Magna Grecia come to war with the Etruscans.

Gerone the 1st of Siracusa intervenes in the aid of the bell towns and in 474 a.c. its contribution is decisive in the naval battle that takes place in the gulf of Naples, in the waters facing Ischia, in determining the defeat of the Etruscans.

82 a.c. Ischia returns to the fore when Rome fights civil war fought by Mario against Silla. During his escape to Africa, Mario finds refuge on the island, where friends and followers await him. A cave, on the slopes of Monte di Vico, currently invaded by the sea, is still today called the Grotto of Mario. To punish the Neapolitans in favor of Mario, Silla, won the war, forcing them to surrender the island to Rome. After the decision of Silla, Ischia then enters under the direct jurisdiction of the Roman senate.

The island is also the theater of another great meeting, known as the Miseno Peace, between Ottaviano, Antonio and Sextus Pompey. Avenir leaves for Sesto Pompeo, which represents the only obstacle to Ottaviano’s ascent. The in-law of Sesto Pompeo, Libone, comes to Ischia where he organizes a banquet on a galley to celebrate the conclusion of the well-known treatise of Miseno. Dead Sesto Pompeo and won Antonio, Ottaviano becomes emperor in 29 BC and the dominion over Ischia returns under the control of Naples.

558 d.C. The Byzantines, after the barbarian invasions, regain the island, which rejoined in Naples, follows the affairs.

800 d.C. Ischia underwent repeated and repeated Saracen raids, and on September 7, 812, Pope Leo 3 sent a letter to the Emperor Charlemagne to recommend to him the fate of the inhabitants of ‘Iscla Maior’, that is, of the great island.

1134 The Roman rule begins.

1194-1265 Dominican domination.

1265-1282 Angioinum domain.

1410 (14 May) Elected Pope the Ischitan Baldassare Cossa. It will pass on history as an antipope.

1422 Alfonso said the Magnificent conquers the castle and makes it fortified.

1501 (18 August) Ferdinand 1 of Aragon declares Ischia ‘faithful’, including in the real demolition.

1509 (27 December) Francesco d’Avalos marries the poetess Vittoria Colonna in the Aragonese Castle.

1544 Khair-ed-Din (the Barbarossa) and Dragut rushes.

1588 Calabrian doctor Giulio Iasolino begins his work of rediscovering the thermal baths of the island, also in view of his birth, due to volcanic movements, between Baia and Pozzuoli del Monte Nuovo and the progressive unreeling of Pozzuoli’s thermal springs. Publishing the “Natural remedies” and the precious topographic paper painted by mario Cantaro (1586) he favours the awareness of people about the island.

1604 The viceroy of naples approves the statute that allows the noble Neapolitans to build the “Monte della Misericordia” in Casamicciola.

1708 Austrian rule begins.

1734 (20 February) Charles 1 of Bourbon occupies Ischia and Procida.

1830 Ferdinand 2 becomes the king of Naples linking its name to a period of great splendor of Ischia, new roads are being built, an electromagnetic telegraph cable connects Ischia to the continent, completes the construction of the church of Portosalvo.

1854 The transformation of the lake and the opening of the harbor provide new opportunities to the island’s economy.

1883 (July 28) A disastrous earthquake had place across the island with particular devastating effects on Casamicciola. A terrible shake of earthquake that lasted a few seconds, raised everything, covering the island by ruins and destruction.

1885 Italian parliament decides to build the first geodynamic observatory in Italy on Casamicciola.

1945 (August 11) A decree law administratively divides the island into six municipalities.

1948 Rachel Mussolini, Duce’s wife, is confined to Forio with her children. The widow Mussolini managed to lead a dignified life only through the solidarity of the people of Forio.

1950 The war is over and life begins again with the presence of great artists in Forio that focuses from the 1950s to the 58s.

1950 Angelo Rizzoli will indissolublely tie his name to the tourist development of the island. The ‘commendator’ comes to Ischia, sees the poverty of the island’s inhabitants, falls in love with the natural beauty, but is mainly aware of the tourist development. It builds the hotel of Queen Isabella at Lacco Ameno, which soon becomes the reference point of the jet set around the world of the publisher and producer of Milan.

1962 Fox, a giant of world cinema, begins at Ischia Ponte shooting of the colossal Cleopatra with Burt Lancater and Liz Taylor with whom the island gets the definitive promotional launch in the world.

2002 (May 5) the Holy Father John Paul II comes to pastoral visit to Ischia, at the invitation of the Diocese led by Archbishop Filippo Strofaldi. The Pope celebrates a Mass on the Aragonese pier at Ischia Ponte and then, in the afternoon, meets the young people in the space in front of the Relief Church in Forio. The third millennium opens with a great event that puts the island at the forefront of the world.

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