The Pontine Isles are a small archipelago located on the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of the Gulf of Gaeta, in the region of Lazio.

The total surface of the archipelago reaches around 4.5 square miles, and the permanent population is of about 4,000 inhabitants.

Despite the very small surface of the isles, the archipelago boasts a surprisingly rich history.

The isles are divided into two main groups, the northwest group, administratively belonging to the municipality of Ponza and including the isles of Ponza, Palmarola, Zannone, and Gavi, and the southeast group, administratively belonging to the municipality of Ventotene and consisting of the isles of Ventotene and Santo Stefano.

The entire group is further included in the administrative control of the province of Latina. Although the archipelago historically was part of Campania, nevertheless, the isles were assigned to Lazio during the fascist period.

Of the six isles, Ponza is perhaps the most famous. It measures roughly 3 square miles and boasts a mountainous territory dominated by Mount Guardia rising 918 feet above the sea.

Easy to reach from Anzio, Terracina, Formia, Ischia, and Pozzuoli, the Pontine Isles promise to impress with their rich history.

PREHISTORY OF PONTINE ISLES

The Pontine Isles are the result of intense geological processes, and they have most likely existed since the dawn of time. The islands are of volcanic origin, and their territory is characterized by jagged and mostly rocky beaches composed of tuff and kaolin.

Although today only two of the six isles are inhabited, historians believe humans populated the entire archipelago since prehistory.

These theories are supported by anthropic traces found on the isle of Zannone, inhabited since 1979, and also on the other inhabited islets.

From the group of six isles, only Ponza and Ventotene are still inhabited, but they are also rich in traces of early civilizations.

According to evidence, the archipelago has been inhabited since the Neolithic, although the main centers were only born during the time of the Volsci. Occupied by the Phoenicians, the Pontine Isles served as commercial ports until the eighth century BC, when they were colonized by the Greeks.

The archipelago flourished under the Greek occupation, and numerous traces show the existence of a funerary hypogeum and the aqueduct of Le Frona attributable to the era. In fact, even the names of the islets indicate a Greek legacy, as Ponza, for instance, is believed to have derived from Pontia, meaning sea.

The Romans took possession of the islands in 312 BC, transforming the two main isles, Ponza and Ventotene, into places of both vacation and exile. In fact, Julia, the daughter of Emperor Augustus, Agrippina, the niece of Emperor Tiberius, and Octavia, the wife of Emperor Nero were all imprisoned here.

But besides transforming the isles into prisons, the Romans also brought development. Traces of their passage are still visible in the ruins of villas and aqueducts.

HISTORY OF PONTINE ISLES

Once acquired by the Roman citizenship, the isles began to flourish, and Ponza developed into a populated town and destination for many patricians. Despite its transformation into a place of exile for illustrious political figures by Emperor Augustus, it also became a tourist destination preferred by the wealthy Romans who built large villas, including one with an adjoining theater.

During the Roman era, the isles also received aqueducts, dams, and many water reservoirs. Perhaps the most famous is the Piscinae Limarie, a reservoir of considerable size that served not only the needs of the inhabitants but also supplied water to the merchant ships and to the Roman fleet.

In the same period, numerous temples dedicated to the god Mithras emerged, as well as two long tunnels connecting the port of Santa Maria to the villas on the Isle of Ponza, built near the new port on the same island.

The Romans centered activities on the isles around shipbuilding due to the lush pine and oak woods present in the archipelago.

This developed maritime traffic in the area, which eventually led to a true expansion of trade. On the isles, various goods were merchandized, and the population developed incredibly fast, reaching almost 20,000 inhabitants.

With the decline of the Roman Empire though, the interest in the archipelago began to fade, and the population started to migrate towards more fertile territories. The last excerpts of a bygone era manifested in Ventenone, an island occupied by the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire and used as a way of access towards the West.

With the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, the Pontine Isles passed under the supremacy of the church and transformed into a flourishing religious center during the Middle Ages. The first to settle in the area were the Benedictine monks who erected the Abbey of Santa Maria in Ponza and dedicated themselves to commercial activities.

But the work of the friars was almost thwarted starting from the ninth century when the archipelago became subject to the ferocious raids of the Saracen pirates. This marked the start of a period of decay that lasted until the thirteenth century.

In 1202, the islands restored their ancient importance when Pope Innocent III entrusted the Abbey of Santa Maria to the Cistercian friars. A few years later, Ponza was incorporated into the Basilica of Sant’Anastasia on the Palatine, responding directly to Rome.

But the period of peace was about to come to an end, as at the beginning of the fourteenth century the waters of the archipelago became the scene of hostilities between Ruggero di Lauria, the Duke of Calabria, and Admiral Corrado Doria representing Frederick III of Aragon, the King of Sicily.

In 1322, due to a bill of Pope Honorius III, the isles passed to the Abbey of Fossanova, remaining under monarchal control until 1435.

The middle of the fifteenth century found the Pontine Isles involved in new struggles between Admiral Biagio Assereto, representing the dynasty of Anjou, and the fleet of Alfonso I of Aragon, who wanted to conquer the islands. He succeeded in 1454 when Ponza was occupied by the Aragonese, and the battle ended with the expulsion of the Cistercian monks from the island who, refuging in Formia, founded the Church of Santa Maria di Ponza.

The Pontine Isles remained under the rule of the Aragon for almost a century; in 1542, Charles V, the King of Spain, granted the fief of the isles to Pier Luigi Farnese, a relative of the Duke of Parma, who would eventually inherit the title of Duke while living in Ponza.

His main obligations were to defend the archipelago from pirate attacks after the Barbarossa set the island on fire on 1534. However, a new raid in 1552, this time carried out by the corsair Dragut, brought death and destruction to the island.

After a slow recovery, the Pontine Isles were hit once again by a fierce raid of the Turks in 1655, which ended in almost complete destruction of the civil and military edifices, including the port tower.

After the Turk attacks, a period of Austrian domination followed until 1734 when Elisabetta Farnese, the mother of Charles III of Spain, the King of Naples, ceded the entire archipelago to her son. This transformed the islands into the private property of the crown, followed by intense colonization with settlers brought mainly from Ischia.

Preoccupied with future pirate attacks, the Bourbons also implemented a defense strategy that saw a fleet of the Neapolitan ships, joined by Maltese and Papal war galleys, move in the waters of the Pontine Isles only to defeat the isle of Palmarola from a handful of Turkish ships in 1757.

This marked the beginning of peace in the archipelago, and a few years later King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon started a phase of economic development, improving the lives of the inhabitants. Most of these works focused on the development of new buildings and infrastructure, carried out mostly by prisoners who, in 1795, at the end of their works, were imprisoned in the new prison of Ponza.

Although the works interested all islands, the one that benefited the most was Ponza, which was eventually colonized by 52 families from Ischia after it was uninhabited for almost two centuries due to the Saracen raids.

Most of the public works conducted in this era still characterize the archipelago. These include the port of Ponza, with its distinguishing curvilinear geometry, a handful of civil edifices, the cemetery, the fortress, the church, the current Town Hall, and the inhabited area of Ventotene.

Other noteworthy buildings in Ventotene include the small port of Pozzillo, with its steep semicircular wings grafted onto the well-preserved ancient Roman port.

In 1831, the Pontine Isles were occupied by English Admiral Charles Napier, who was eventually named Count of Ponza. But only two years later, as a result of the Treaty of Vienna, the Isles returned to the Bourbons.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Carlo Pisacane arrived in Ponza, freed prison inmates and destroyed the archives of the islands. In 1861, after the defeat of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by Giuseppe Garibaldi, Ponza and the rest of the archipelago were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.

From then on, the history of the Pontine Isles followed the history of the mainland. In 1928, the fascist regime nominated Ponza as a place of confinement of political opponents. Many of the important figures of the era, including Pietro Nenni, Giuseppe Romita, and even Mussolini were imprisoned on the island.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a mining company also started to exploit the deposits of bentonite on Ponza, remaining active until 1975. The construction of the mine involved the expropriation of some lands, but gave work to about 150 men, besides bringing maritime traffic for the transport of ore to the mainland.

However, the exploitation took its toll on the isle, concluding with the devastation of one of the most beautiful bays in the region.

With the end of mining, the Pontine Isles transformed into a flourishing tourist center, although the native population started a slow migration towards the mainland. Today, the heavenly paradise is almost completely uninhabited, impressing visitors with its wild beauty.

ARCHAEOLOGY IN PONTINE ISLES

The Pontine Isles have been inhabited since the earliest times, and the archaeological evidence in the territory is overwhelming. From Neolithic artifacts to Roman remains, the main islands hold valuable treasures.

The Tunnel of Chiaia di Luna is one of the most suggestive sites connecting the Bay of Chiaia di Luna with the port of Ponza. The tunnel was excavated in the Augustan age and preserves the original grandeur of the era.

Numerous Roman villas, aqueducts, and cisterns scattered throughout the territory also show evidence of the importance of the islands during the Roman era.

Another interesting site is the Mithraeum, a natural cavern used as a place of worship located under a modern building in the inhabited center of Ponza. The worship place probably has Hellenistic origins and conserves numerous traces of the early cultures, including a vault decorated with zodiacal signs.

The monastery of Ponza is also noteworthy from an archaeological point of view. The monastic presence in the region dates back to the sixth century AD, and some of these traces are present in the thirteenth-century monastery built by Pope Innocent III.

Besides the open-air places, the Pontine Isles also count two noteworthy museums. One is the Archaeological Museum of Ventotene located inside the Bourbon Castle. The museum houses a permanent collection of ancient artifacts including amphorae, ceramics, anchor stumps, and a wide number of remains retrieved from the many wrecks.