Aragonese Castle (Castello Aragonese), Ischia

The Aragonese Castle (Castello Aragonese) is the most dramatic historic landmark on the island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples, Campania, Italy. It stands on a steep rocky island approximately 113 metres high—called the Isolotto—connected to the main island of Ischia by a 220-metre stone causeway originally constructed by Alfonso of Aragon in 1441. The strategic rock has been inhabited and fortified since at least 474 BC when the Greeks of Cumae built a military outpost here to defend against Etruscan incursion. Roman-period remains include cisterns and terraced agricultural areas. The castle reached its peak as a functioning community in the medieval and early modern periods, when it sheltered not only a military garrison but an entire civil population of several thousand people in times of pirate attack and war: convents, churches, a cathedral, palaces, workshops, and gardens were all contained within the defensive walls. The castle's most historically remarkable space is the convent of the Poor Clares, where a macabre terracotta throne room—the Room of the Decomposing Bodies—was used for centuries to display deceased abbesses as they decomposed, allowing the community to contemplate mortality. A 20th-century panoramic lift installed within the rock serves the upper levels, though much of the exploration involves climbing steep internal ramps and staircases. The views from the upper terraces across Ischia, Procida, the Gulf of Naples, and toward Vesuvius and the mainland are among the best from any single elevated point in the region. A small museum, several art galleries, a wine cellar, and a restaurant complete the facilities.