Post by Owen on Jul 4, 2024 9:39:55 GMT
1 ~~~ Island-hopping in the bay of Naples: the unique charms of Capri, Ischia and Procida
This trio of Neapolitan islands has captivated visitors since ancient times
Ischia, Procida, Capri: three long-inhabited islands in the Bay of Naples eternally suspended between sky and sea.
From land they seem like silvery ghosts breaching out of the stillness; rumps tinged with the gold of dawn and glamour.
Hazed by morning and mystery, these rocky Tyrrhenian outposts could be mistaken for kin.
But only two, in the Bay of Pozzuoli, are volcanic siblings.
The third – that attention-seeking four square miles of phallic limestone called Capri – is an interloper from the Sorrentine Peninsula, Anacapri rising on its back like a Siamese twin.
Magmatic or simply magnetic, these islands – dipped in indigo, with shallows like handblown glass – have always held a special place in the European psyche.
They have lured and divided since classical times when Augustus Caesar swapped Ischia for Capri with the rulers of Neapolis (as Naples was then called) and built his own divine maritime realm.
The age-old question of Capri versus Ischia is not just a marker of taste, tribe, politics or sexual orientation, but also a psychometric test. Even as these islands turn our heads with fresh openings, their beauty remains in the eye of the beholder.
www.cntraveller.com/article/neapolitan-islands?
2 July 2024
This trio of Neapolitan islands has captivated visitors since ancient times
Ischia, Procida, Capri: three long-inhabited islands in the Bay of Naples eternally suspended between sky and sea.
From land they seem like silvery ghosts breaching out of the stillness; rumps tinged with the gold of dawn and glamour.
Hazed by morning and mystery, these rocky Tyrrhenian outposts could be mistaken for kin.
But only two, in the Bay of Pozzuoli, are volcanic siblings.
The third – that attention-seeking four square miles of phallic limestone called Capri – is an interloper from the Sorrentine Peninsula, Anacapri rising on its back like a Siamese twin.
Magmatic or simply magnetic, these islands – dipped in indigo, with shallows like handblown glass – have always held a special place in the European psyche.
They have lured and divided since classical times when Augustus Caesar swapped Ischia for Capri with the rulers of Neapolis (as Naples was then called) and built his own divine maritime realm.
The age-old question of Capri versus Ischia is not just a marker of taste, tribe, politics or sexual orientation, but also a psychometric test. Even as these islands turn our heads with fresh openings, their beauty remains in the eye of the beholder.
www.cntraveller.com/article/neapolitan-islands?
2 July 2024