Lacco Ameno occupies the north-westerly corner of the island of Ischia. Up to the unification of Italy it was named only Lacco and since 1863 it was added the attribute of Ameno (Pleasant) to emphasize its delightful location and the natural beauty of the spot.

The symbol of Lacco Ameno is the famous Fungo (Fungus), a tufa crag 10 meters high on the sea surface which is at a distance of 50 meters from the shore with the characteristic shape of mushroom, maybe the result of an ancient explosive eruption of Mount Epomeo and rolled down to the seashore. The religious symbol is instead the patroness Santa Restituta.

In the territory of Lacco Ameno, and exactly in the bay of San Montano behind Monte Vico, it had been discovered the necropolis of the most ancient Greek colony in the Gulf of Naples, Pithecusa, constituted in the 8th century before Christ and from where they left the founders of Partenope, the earliest nucleus of the city of Naples. The most famous archeological find is the Nestor's Cup, which shows an inscription with a verse by Homer.

Other relics were found in the centre of Lacco, under the Basilica of Santa Restituta, make us think that right Lacco Ameno was the seat of the Greek colony, after integrated with Roman settlement and inhabitated up to the 3rd century after Christ. Bradyseism phenomena caused the fall of part of the territory under the sea surface, as happened to the nymphaeum called Marius' Grotto.

In San Montano Bay, according to the legend, also disembarked Santa Restituta after the martyrdom she received in Africa, provoking an unforeseen flowering of lilies all over the bay. That poetic image inspired the French poet Lamartine, who dedicated her a piece of poetry. The patroness saint of Lacco Ameno is venerated in the Basilica of Santa Restituta, built in 14th century on the centre of Lacco.

The religious festivity is celebrated in May, it lasts three days and attracts the faithful from the whole island. In the annexed Museum are exhibited silverware and paintings from Neapolitan Baroque, while in the excavation area you can look at what remains from the Greek colony, particularly the tools and the furnaces for the production of clay and metals.  [ More...]