The Pontine Islands
Geographically they belong
to Lazio, but have a social "campana" origin. Their inhabitants
derive from the settlers of the coast and the country af Campania, sent
by the Borboni in 1730 to the islands. Their small villages have a beautiful
"partenopeo" character with white and rose houses, in their
dialect, in their way of living, in their sailor like customs. The islands
have an eruptive origin and their landscapes are wild and characteristic,
with a wonderful, very clear and blue sea.
Above all, Ponza and Palmarola islands, with their moon-like shape and
their bristling rocks, testify the huge explosions and terryfing eruptions
from wich they originated.
Ponza
It is easy to reach Ponza embarking
in Anzio on a ferry boat or on a hydrofoil boat. The arrival in Ponza
is really charming: you can admire the semicircle of pink houses on the
harbour, the roman "piscine", ancient basins where the Romans
bred fishes, and the small cemetry on the mountain!
Advancing in lanes and narrow roads of the island you can find the sudden
flowering of series of plants, above all yellow of the brooms. The sea
is the real jewel of Ponza: its crumbly rocks of tuff and lava, under
the blows of the wind and of the waves, have strange shapes in boundless
series of capes, promontories, beaches, bays, caves, one finest than the
others. The sea dephts are very various and charming: red seaweeds, "poseidonia"
that waves in the current like the hair of a swimming "Medusa".
It is very amusing to snorkle in a few metres of water: you can see blue
neon "castagnole", very coloured "donzelle", trusting
king fishes and many small fishes with lovely colours.
Ponza can be easily reached by sea from Anzio (Rome).
Palmarola
Palmarola is placed six miles far from Ponza. Suddenly, arriving from Ponza at Palmarola, you can see a wonderful bay, "Cala Brigantina"; on the right a smooth and low rock is dark in front of a very hight white rock that is reflected in a jade sea; on the left the "Faraglioni di Mezzogiorno", very hight rocks like the famous "Faraglioni" in Capri. On the North rock, like a beehive, you can see the ancient caves dug in the tuff, prehistoric shelters, then shelters of Ponza inhabitans, who came here to fam very small fields. You can easily reach Palmarola island renting a small boat in Ponza harbour or sharing a day trip organized in Ponza.
Zannone
Zannone island offers a various
set of samples of geological formations that witness a very old earthly
history.
But the real tresure of the island is its vegetation: here it is the same
the first farmers found many thousands years ago. Here you can breathe
the perfume of rosemary, lavender, thyme, lentisco, heather.
On the Northern side live 25 or 30 moufflons imported from Sardinia for
hunting purpose.
On Zannone island you can find only the keeper's house and a lighthouse;
there are also the ruins of a "benedettino" convent going back
the VI century a.C.
Ventotene
The name Ventotene derives
from the Greek name "Mandataria" taht means "donor of everything".
It was the place where the Roman Emperiors exiled renowned roman matrons:
like Giulia, Augusto' daughter, Agrippina, Tiberio's step-daughter. And
here was exiled also Sandro Pertini, as in modern times Vantotene was
place of political confinement of many politicians. Ventotene is an importan
archeological place, with its roman harbour dug into the tuff, the ancient
fish basins and the ruins of "Villa Giulia", imperial palace
on "Punta Eolo". Very pretty is the small village, in which
in the winter only 500 people live: it was built by the Borboni during
the VIII century and their houses have the pink and white colours of the
houses built on the islnads of the Napolitan Gulf.
Like the sea of Ponza, the waters of Ventotene are very clear and diving
and snorkling are very amusing here.
In Formia you can embark on one hydrofoil boat or on a ferry boat to reach
Ventotene easily.
Santo Stefano
It is placed far 1600 meters
from Ventotene harbour and is a low small island, 80 meters hight on the
sea level.
Here Ferdinando IV, the king of the "due Sicilie", ordered that
Francesco Carpi, (an architect who then was shutup here and here died),
and Antonio Winspeare, (a major of his army), should built a life imprisonment
. The building, built round a circular courtyard, imitates the "gironi"
of Dante's hell. Here were shut up Giovanni Settembrini, a patriot; then
Mariani, an anarchist who had thrown a bomb in a theatre in Mialno; and
Gaetano Cresci, the killer of the king Umberto I. Also here Sandro Pertini,
the President of Italian Republic was shut up in that period. The life
imprisonment building has being deserted since 1965. Leaving from Ventotene
sea trips are organised to visit it and to take a very pleasant bath in
the "Vasca Giulia", a small lovely basin, dug into the rocks,
where roman matrons bathed. On the island you can admire a very wild vegetation,
where once the prisoners farmed their small fields.
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