Rain was in the forecast, and it did its best to arrive as scheduled! After a late breakfast at the hotel, overlooking the beautiful flowers and soaked pool, as promised, we visited the Aragonese Castle. A 15-minute walk from our hotel, the Aragonese Castle came into view through the pouring rain. It rained the hardest all day as we walked to the castle!
raining day at the castle
This fortress was built in 474 BC by the Greek, Hiero I. Over the course of the centuries, many different groups, from the Arabs to the Normans, held the castle. The Ischians took over the fortress in the 1300s. The fortress was also transformed into a prison and held many political prisoners. Since the early 1900s, the castle has been empty and open for tourists.
A view back to Ischia Ponte from the fortress
The castle holds many small chapels and churches. A small convent for the Poor Clare nuns prospered at the castle beginning in 1575. The convent housed around 40 cloistered nuns, mostly first-born daughters of noble families, who were sent there by their families so that the family estate could be passed down to the family’s first male heir.
Beneath one of the churches, a cemetery for the nuns is found. They had a macabre tradition of placing the nuns’ bodies on stone chairs exposed, where the other nuns would pray over them for years. I could go into grim details, but its rather sad.
The sad resting places for the devoted nuns
One of the chapels, the Church of the Madonna della Libera, was built after the last eruption of the volcano, Mt Epomeo, in the 1300s. The towns people prayed to Mary and dedicated the church to her, as Mary protected them. The painting above the altar depicts the Madonna with hands outstretched as she was blocking the lava.
The Madonna Chapel
After touring the castle, the rain eased up and we had our favorite Italian lunch of quattro Fromaggi pizza and Caprese salad at restaurant overlooking the castle and the Bay of Naples.
Lunch!
We did a little shopping, as the rain began again. We returned to the hotel and tried out the Roman bath in the basement of the hotel. I need one of those in my basement!!!!
The Roman bath at the hotel… luxurious!!!
We had dinner a 1/2 mile away from the hotel, on the beach. The house wine in the pitcher carafe is still the way to go! I tried pasta with mussels and limone sauce while Bob had another quattro Fromaggi pizza, this time, all to himself!
Pasta with mussels
4 Fromaggi pizza for Bob
Mixed salad, Ischia style
Dinner view
We sat on our balcony, as the rain ended at dinner time, and enjoyed the view of the castle, the pool and a bottle of Ischia wine! Tomorrow, we are hoping the rain holds off since we are renting a car to explore the island!!!
Night view of a church by our hotel
Castle view at dusk