Ischia – Italian Open Water Tour

The stone ramparts of the Aragonese Castle rise directly out of the sea, providing a monumental turning mark for swimmers in the waters of Campania. Known as the Ischia – Italian Open Water Tour, this open water swimming race takes place in the Mediterranean Sea around the island in October. Organized by the Italian Open Water Tour, the competition is also known locally as the Traversata di Nettuno after the surrounding marine protected area. Inaugurated in 2019, the event brings open water swimmers to coastal circuits. Competitors can choose from a wide range of distances, including a 926-metre dash, a classic nautical mile of 1852 metres, a 3000-metre course, and an endurance test spanning 6000 metres.

Alongside these distance events, the weekend program features a 500-metre breaststroke contest nicknamed the 'gara impavida', or fearless race. Swimmers planning an extended stay can also enter the Periplo Isola d'Ischia, an adjacent race held five kilometres away that can be completed during the same trip. Throughout the race weekend, the fortified islet of the Aragonese Castle serves as the central buoy for all courses. The swimming route channels athletes through a narrow passage under the bridge of the 'corrente', where the sea flows between the island mainland and the rock outcrop.

Cartaromana Bay: submerged Roman Aenaria and the castle bridge

The fortress rock at Ischia Ponte is an islet of trachytic stone connected to the island by a 220-metre masonry bridge. Before the bridge was constructed, the crag had served as a fortified position since 474 BC, when Hiero I of Syracuse built the first stronghold on the outcrop. That early garrison followed centuries of prior habitation dating back to the Bronze Age, as well as the eighth or ninth century BC when Greek traders founded the emporium of Pithekoūsai, followed by Greek-Roman settlers arriving around 780 BC. In the sheltered waters of Cartaromana Bay, just off the fortress rock, lies the submerged Roman city of Aenaria. Over the centuries, local volcanic bradyseism caused the ground to subside, leaving the ancient settlement preserved beneath the water.

On the shoreline enclosing the Cartaromana area stands the Torre di Guevara, a coastal watchtower built in the first half of the sixteenth century by Giovanni de Guevara. A permanent crossing to the castle rock was initiated in 1438, when Alfonso V of Aragon ordered the construction of a bridge linking the fortress to the island. While the connection was originally built in wood, Alfonso V ordered a masonry structure in 1441, creating the 220-metre stone causeway that stands today. The citadel provided a vital refuge for the island's population during pirate raids throughout the sixteenth century, an era of coastal assaults that lasted until 1796, when the last resident was captured by corsairs.

Regno di Nettuno: posidonia meadows and the cetacean corridor

The race unfolds within the waters of the Regno di Nettuno Marine Protected Area, which encloses both Ischia and Procida. Ischia belongs to the Campanian Archipelago, historically recorded as the Parthenopaean Islands. The archipelago consists of five main islands: Capri, Ischia, Nisida, Procida, and Vivara, and was historically considered to encompass the Pontine Islands as well. The Campanian Archipelago forms an important natural habitat for Mediterranean sperm whales. The nearby Canale di Procida measures about seven kilometres in maximum length and narrows to roughly 3.4 kilometres in width. At its narrowest stretch, the channel reaches depths of 14 to 15 metres, punctuated by shallow shoals including the central Secca del Torrione at just over four metres and the Secca di Marsiglia closer to Procida at just over six metres.

In 1799, a naval engagement occurred in the Canale di Procida between the fleet of the Neapolitan Republic and the Anglo-Bourbon navy. Later, in 1957, the waters saw the installation of Europe's first underwater aqueduct, connecting Miliscola to the island of Procida.

The volcanic coast: green tuff crags and thermal sea springs

The coastal terrain around Ischia is the product of complex volcanic activity. The island was formed primarily by the eruption of trachytic Green Tuff Ignimbrite approximately 56,000 years ago. A well-known coastal formation shaped from this deposit is Il Fungo, an isolated rock located a few tens of metres off the shore of Lacco Ameno. Standing ten metres high, this green tuff boulder fell into the sea from Mount Epomeo in prehistoric times, where wave action and wind gradually carved its distinctive mushroom shape. The island's seismic history also includes a severe earthquake on July 28, 1883, which destroyed the northern villages of Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola Terme. Near Punta Imperatore and the village of Panza lies the beach of Citara.

Volcanic thermal springs flow directly into the sea along this coastline, supplying the thermal pools of the Poseidon gardens with waters that range from 28 to 40 degrees Celsius. A white marble statue of Venus Citarea was discovered at Citara, alongside a local legend stating that the rocks off the beach are sailors turned to stone by Venus for assisting Odysseus. At the main port of Ischia Porto, the modern harbour was originally a shallow lake called Pantaniello, measuring little more than two metres deep with an islet inside, until King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies opened it to the sea in September 1854.