Procida
23 places
◆ NatureIsola di Vivara
Procida
A green crescent joined to Procida by a footbridge: a nature reserve on an ancient crater, between Mediterranean scrub, migrating birds and paths that lean out over the sea.
CastlesPalazzo d'Avalos e Terra Murata
Procida (NA)
At the highest point of Procida, the ancient fortified borgo of Terra Murata (walled village) culminates in the palace turned prison, suspended between the pastel houses and the sea of Corricella.
◆ Free beachesSpiaggia delle Grotte e Scoglio Cannone
Procida (NA)
Below a wall of tufo hollowed out with man-made caves once used as boat shelters, with the Scoglio Cannone planted in front like a sentry. You get there down a stairway that seems never to end.
◆ Sacred artChiesa di Santa Maria della Pieta'
Procida (NA)
The church that greets whoever lands at Marina Grande, with the Madonna the sailors saluted before leaving and thanked on their return. When they returned.
- Villages
Marina 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.
- Sacred art
Terra Murata
Procida
The ancient core of Procida climbs the yellow tufo (volcanic tuff) headland, between defensive walls and narrow alleys, suspended between the little harbour of Corricella and the horizon of the bay.
- Sacred art
Abbazia di San Michele
Procida
Behind the walls of Terra Murata, the abbey dedicated to its patron Michael guards paintings, an antique presepe (nativity scene) and catacombe carved into the tufo, its vault turned towards the sea.
- ◆ Views & panoramas
Belvedere Elsa Morante e dei Cannoni
Procida
From the terrace named after Elsa Morante, among old cannons trained on the bay, the view opens onto the Corricella and its pastel houses heaped upon the water.
- Free beaches
Spiaggia del Pozzo Vecchio ("del Postino")
Procida
The dark-sand beach where Massimo Troisi filmed Il Postino, tucked below the cemetery and the tufo walls, with shallow water and the stillness of a film set never struck.
- Free beaches
Spiagge di Chiaia
Procida
A long stairway leads down to it: a broad stretch of sand and shingle sheltered by high tufo walls, with the fishing boats of the Corricella colouring the background.
- Free beaches
Chiaiolella
Procida
The crescent-shaped little harbour on Procida's gentler side, with moored boats, tables at the water's edge and the bridge that leads from here towards the island of Vivara.
- ◆ Villages
Casale Vascello
Procida
An old fortified casale at the foot of Terra Murata: coloured houses press around a courtyard, with the arched vefi (external staircases) once shielding the inhabitants from Saracen raids.
- ◆ In the water & diving
Punta Pizzaco e Solchiaro (snorkeling)
Procida
On the southern side, between the cliffs of Solchiaro and the walls of Pizzaco, clear water and rocky seabeds invite you to swim with a mask, far from the crowds.
- Free beaches
Spiaggia della Chiaiolella
Procida (NA)
On the island's western side, the broad sandy beach where Procida watches the sunset, with the fishermen's boats and Vivara closing the horizon.
- Nature
Marina di Chiaiolella e Vivara
Procida (NA)
A crescent-shaped harbour from which the bridge to Vivara sets off, a sickle-shaped islet turned nature reserve, realm of migratory birds and Mediterranean scrub.
- ◆ Sacred art
Chiesa di Santa Margherita Nuova
Procida (NA)
Built in the sixteenth century by Dominicans fleeing the Saracens, in the freezing winter of 1956 it collapsed in on itself when the great arches holding it up gave way. Only partly restored, it remains a shell hanging over the Corricella.
- ◆ Museums
Museo Civico di Procida "Sebastiano Tusa"
Procida (NA)
Named after the underwater archaeologist who died in the 2019 Ethiopian air disaster, it gathers what the sea around Procida has given back. It stands in the same complex from which, for two centuries, people looked out at the prison.
- ◆ Museums
Museo Casa di Graziella
Procida (NA)
A reconstruction of a Procida house for Graziella, the girl invented (or perhaps not) by Lamartine, who fell in love with her and let her die of grief in his novel. Every year Procida still elects a Graziella: a literary ghost the island cannot give up.
- ◆ Views & panoramas
Punta Pizzaco
Procida (NA)
The headland from which you can see Ischia on one side, Capri on the other and the whole Gulf in between. At sunset it is the best spot on Procida, and almost nobody climbs up here.
- ◆ Views & panoramas
Punta Solchiaro
Procida (NA)
The island's southernmost point, a balcony of tufo (volcanic tuff) over Vivara and the channel of Procida. The wind here never stops.
- ◆ Street art
Cimitero di Procida
Procida (NA)
A cemetery made of little domes and small white houses: the same round volumes as the homes of the living, just below. On Procida even the dead live in a miniature version of the town.
- Free beaches
Spiaggia di Ciraccio
Procida (NA)
The longest beach on Procida, dark sand beneath cliffs of yellow tufo (volcanic tuff), and the lighthouse on the horizon. Walk a hundred metres and you leave everyone behind.
- ◆ Views & panoramas
Belvedere Elsa Morante
Procida (NA)
Dedicated to the writer who, in L'isola di Arturo, made Procida an island of solitude and absent fathers. From here you look at the sea exactly as Arturo looked at it: waiting for someone.