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“(…) who will drink from this bowl will be soon captured by desire of Aphrodite of the beautiful crown”.
As Venus, also Ischia was born by the sea and, like the goddess of beauty, has the gift of the never ending youth: young land, bestower of youth, the island was born in consequence of a series of volcanic eruptions, even if for a long time it remained submerged in the depth of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Only during the Quaternary period – a recent epoch according to the calendar of the geological eras – the first nucleus emerges from the water: it is the north-east part of the island where there are today Ischia Ponte, Campagnano, Piano Liguori. During several epochs other lands slowly emerge together with other lava vents; for many centuries Ischia is continuously changing: lava, flowing through its bowels, bursts out violently from the numerous volcanic vents. The frequency of the eruptions makes the island uninhabitable for a long time but also creates one of the most enchanting landscapes of the earth. How could we not be fascinated by the brown outer belt of petrified lava of the Zaro coast, where the primeval aspect suggests moon fantasies? And the verticality of the rocky faces that jut out over the woody plateau of Falanga or the calcareous spires of the natural cathedral of Pizzi Bianchi at Fontana? With time, the island slowly develops and its sceneries are very different: huge beaches gently sloping down to the sea, rocky inlets over deep water, such as the Wizard’s Cave at Lacco Ameno, where, according to some scholars, during prehistory the cult of the Sun was celebrated, or such as waving hills covered by vineyards and woods. The impressive stateliness of the Epomeo Mountain. The island is moulded by the fire of volcanoes: trees, herbs and flowers are more than thousand; tropical plants: the Woodwardia Radicans and Pteris Longifolia ferns; the very rare Fumarole Papyrus, whose real name is Cyperus Polystachius, a plant of mysterious and very ancient origin, perhaps a vegetable going back to interglacial stage, that grows just on Ischia and the tropical lands; the unique Limonium Inarimensis, growing just on our island. Plants on rocks: mugweed, helychrysum, rosemary. The maquis: myrtles and strawberry-trees, heather and olive trees, lemon trees. The mountain plants: chestnuts. The giant Thyphoeus, chained by order of Jupiter at the centre of the island, whose body enlarges the Epomeo mountain, that makes Ischia “the climatic jewel of the Mediterranean”, by raising clouds and keeping rain and cold at a distance. The Epomeo actually divides the island into two different areas of light and tones: the pastel colour dawns of Ischia and Casamicciola, the colour thickness of Forio, when sun goes down. Two different climate belts: the warmth of the sand along the coast and the fresh and crisp air of the mountain top. Who will drink from this bowl will take care of himself through colours, smells, and tastes of this land; who will drink from this bowl will enjoy the wellbeing of iodine, heliotherapy and the revitalizing action of the mineral salts contained in fruits, flowers and water. This bowl keeps water that gushes out from hidden places in the underground and brings the power of fire and of the earth bowels. This water gives long life and beauty. Why? Because when eruptions ceased – the latest one took place in 1301 – left on one hand so much destruction but on the other hand also a huge heritage. In the bowels of the earth there was still fire: it did no more produce lava and lapilli but water and thermal vapour. Since ancient time this kind of water was already considered as miraculous, as the archaeological finds with the thanksgivings to the Nitroli nymphs testify. How does this wonderful water develop, already subject of scientific treatises by Giulio Jasolino and Chevalley De Rivaz in the XVI century? Hydrothermal springs are composed by rainy water, that flows through a fumarole zone and absorbs minerals by cleft rocks. At the end of its underground way water gushes out of the surface enriched by salts and warmth. There are really many springs on the island, among them the most rich in elements are located in Lacco Ameno, because they keep the secret of eternal youth: very precious substances, indispensable for a full psycho-physical health, natural balancer both of the nervous and the metabolic system and careful controller that act on hormones by calming body in case of stress and giving energy when necessary. Ischia’s water is so rich in such noble elements, that Marie Curie came to the island to study their effects. 103 thermal springs gush on the whole island with their high content of mineral salts: sodium, one of the basic elements for the vital activity of living beings, potassium, essential for muscle dynamics, sulphur, essential for joints elasticity (in fact, synovial membranes and tendinous-ligamental parts consist of organic compounds, where sulphur is the fundamental biological element), calcium, that has a sedative action on the nervous system. Beyond these natural remedies there is also the chance of rapidly experiencing climatic changes: going up from the coastal zones of the island to the Epomeo mountain you can follow a real climatotherapy: variations of temperature, different humidity proportions, wind changes and a varied incidence of sun rays perform a stinging and oxygenating action on human body. Moreover, aromatherapy and chromotherapy play a significant role: the essences produced by plants and flowers and their various colours directly act on the nervous system by giving calmness and harmony. Water, mud, vapours but also the simple immersion into the nature of the island enable our body – far too abused by unnatural rhythms - to find a sublime dimension thanks to a two thousand years old formula. It was just on this land that more than two thousand years ago Greeks decided to settle, surprised by the great ground fertility and richness in clay. The first Greek settlement took place on Lacco Ameno; on the hill of Monte Vico, Pithecusa was founded by the Euboaeans. According to Livy and Strabo, it was the most ancient Greek colony in Italy. Pithecusa derived from “pytoi”, terracotta pitchers, because of the main commercial activity of that time, the earthenware trade. Other scholars state that this toponym means “island inhabited by monkeys”. The ancient Lacco Ameno, Pithecusa, reached a high level of civilization and became in the VIIII century B.C. a crossroads of the ancient world by developing relationships both with East and West. On the hills of Arbusto and Mezzavia were situated the residential villas, at San Montano there was the necropolis whereas the acropolis of Monte Vico dominated a level zone: the village with spas and gyms. The whole island took the name of Pithecusa. Unfortunately it ended in a quite turbulent way; though this time it was not due to nature fury but to the human one. It actually seems that Pithecusa was razed to the ground by Sulla during the Roman era: a terrible revenge that hit the island where Caius Marius, the great enemy of the dictator had taken refuge during his flight to Africa. On the hills of Monte Vico there is still today a cave, now flooded, called Mario’s Cave. Meanwhile the island had become a Roman possession up to 29 B.C., when Caesar Augustus reigned. In the course of time the island changed its name – Pithecusa, Inarime, Aenaria, Iscla – almost at the same rhythm of its rulers. During the Middle Age the main nucleus of the island moved to the huge trachytic rock rising from the sea at Ischia Ponte: the insula minor, that was first called Castrum Gironis and then Castello Aragonese. Just in the 1900s Lacco Ameno became once again the centre of Ischia thanks to the arrival of Angelo Rizzoli. The last land to be colonized was just tourism. Rizzoli bet on the international launch of Ischia, gambling on an island with an unique natural heritage. He won. On Lacco Ameno he established structures and facilities by setting up one of the most exclusive places of Italy. Two thousand years passed from the first Greek colonization; of this past remains the Nestor’s bowl with its prophetic inscription:”…who will drink from this bowl…”.
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