Covering an area of 4.2 square miles, Ponza is the largest of the Pontine Islands.
Map created by NormanEinstein,
Accessible only by boat or ferry, Ponza is an island located 21 miles off of the west coast of Italy’s mainland in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Due to its volcanic origin, the island offers 14 miles of coastline with breathtaking natural scenery of caves, cliffs and beaches all surrounded by crystal turquoise-colored waters.
14 Fun Facts About Ponza, Italy
1.The long and skinny island of Ponza has one main town – Porto – where a group of pastel houses and shops rise behind the ferry landing.
2. Ponza has been inhabited since Neolithic times.
3. Ponza’s desirable location made is susceptible to a string of invasions. The Etruscans were the first to colonize the island, followed by Phoenicians, Spanish, Greeks, and Romans, among others.
4. Tired of constant raids by pirates, the island of Ponza was abandoned during the Middle Ages. The Kingdom of Naples re-colonized the island in the 1700s.
5. Ponza became part of the Kingdom of Italy in the 1800s. Today Ponza is part of the Republic of Italy with 3,366 residents.
6. According to local legend — but not confirmed by historians — Ponza was named after Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea who tried Jesus of Nazareth. Pontius Pilate’s family owned a grotto on Ponza, which still carries his name.
7. Pilato’s Grottos (Grotte di Pilato) are a complex system of tunnels and pools dug to sea level to raise eels during Ponza’s Roman era.
8. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Ponza is thought to be the island of Aeaea –where the sorceress Circe’s cave or grotto was located. Circe lived in this grotto during winter months and turned Odysseus’ men into animals. Today Circe’s grotto — known as Grotta della Maga Circe — is located on the west side of Ponza.
9. Ponza resident Lucia Rosa wanted to marry a poor farmer but her father was forcing her to marry a wealthy man instead of her love. In despair, she threw herself into the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The ‘faraglioni di Lucia Rossa‘ is a beach and a group of rock stacks on Ponza’s northwest side where the young woman died.
10. Ponza’s isolation made the island an ideal place to stash prisoners. During the period of Italian Fascism between 1922 and 1943, Ponza served as a prison for political opponents of Benito Mussolini’s regime.
11. Then, when Mussolini was overthrown and arrested in 1943, he got to experience being imprisoned on Ponza for several weeks.
12. Many visitors explore Ponza by renting small motorboats to circumnavigate the island or to putter up and down the coast, stopping to swim in coves and grottoes that aren’t accessible by land.
13. While Ponza is mostly car-free, jeep rentals are available to explore the island.
14. Taxi Joe — an American-born man who moved from New York to Ponza when he was 23 — provides another option for getting around Ponza. Taxi Joe shuttles visitors and locals around the island in his Subaru 4×4 minibus.
Have you visited the island of Ponza, Italy? What fun facts can you add to this list?
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For more information on Ponza, check out this guide:
