Centro storico di Forio
Forio (NA)
KnownVillages
The story
The alleys of Forio are not crooked by chance: they were designed to confuse Ottoman corsairs, a labyrinth that stole precious minutes from the escape. To walk them today is to get lost on purpose, just as they were meant to.
Access
FREE, always. Limited traffic zone (ZTL) in high season
How to get there
- Hydrofoil
- Ferry
Hours and prices
Free entry.
More gems in Forio
Sacred artChiesa del Soccorso
Forio
White and plain on the headland of Forio, the sailors' church faces the open sea: here, among majolica tiles and ex voto, people come to wait for one of the island's most famous sunsets.
NatureGiardini La Mortella
Forio (NA)
Above Forio, the gardens that Susana Walton cultivated for her composer husband: tree ferns, water lilies and streams in an amphitheatre of volcanic rock facing the Ischia sea.
In the water & divingParco Termale Poseidon
Forio (NA)
On the bay of Citara dozens of pools at different temperatures face the sea, among flowering terraces and the sunset that sets the water of Forio ablaze.
MuseumsIl Torrione (Museo Civico Giovanni Maltese)
Forio (NA)
Built in 1480 to spot Saracen sails, this cylinder of tufo (volcanic tuff) became four centuries later the home-studio of the sculptor Giovanni Maltese, who lived here into the twentieth century. Today his sculptures still inhabit the tower that once had to defend Forio from pirates.
- ◆ Nature
Giardini Ravino
Forio
Between the vineyards of the Epomeo and the sea of Forio, a garden of cacti and succulents: one of the richest collections in Europe, among century-old saguaros and rare species.
- In the water & diving
Baia di Sorgeto
Forio (NA)
On Ischia, where boiling thermal springs gush among the rocks and mingle with the sea, the bay of Sorgeto offers a warm bath even in winter, under the stars.
More gems: Villages
VillagesLa Pignasecca
Montesanto
The oldest market in Naples unspools through the alleys of Montesanto: fish stalls, fry shops and old-time botteghe (traditional shops) in a hubbub that never stops.
VillagesBorgo Marinari
S. Lucia
At the foot of Castel dell'Ovo, the little fishermen's borgo (old village) is now a marina of boats and restaurants: stone, salt air and the legend of Virgil's egg hidden in the foundations.
VillagesMarina Corricella
Procida
The oldest fishermen's borgo (old village) on Procida, an amphitheatre of pastel houses tumbling down to the harbour, where the boats sleep beneath the hanging laundry.
- ◆ Villages
Mercato di Porta Nolana
zona Garibaldi
Beneath the Aragonese arch of Porta Nolana the fish market erupts with voices, crates of seawater and shellfish still alive: Naples at its most unvarnished.
- ◆ Villages
Borgo di Casamale
Somma Vesuviana
The medieval heart enclosed by Aragonese walls and towers, a tangle of alleys where every four years the Festa delle Lucerne lights thousands of little lamps.
- Villages
Marina Grande di Sorrento
Sorrento
Below the town's cliffs, the old fishermen's borgo (old village) with houses faded by the salt, boats hauled ashore and trattorias fragrant with frying.