Ponza

The island was inhabited from Neolithic times, and its main settlements arose under the Volsci. Under Rome, Ponza grew into a busy port, with aqueducts, villas and long tunnels linking the old harbour at Santa Maria with the villas on the hills. It was also a place of exile: Caligula's eldest brother Nero Caesar was deported here in AD 29 and put to death the following year, and his sisters Agrippina the Younger and Julia Livilla were exiled here in AD 39. The origin of the name is uncertain; a local tradition links it to Pontius Pilate, but the name Pontia appears earlier in Strabo.

In the Middle Ages Benedictine monks kept a religious and trading centre going for a time, and Pope Silverius died in exile on nearby Palmarola. Raids by Saracens and pirates eventually emptied the island, and the Ottoman fleet defeated Andrea Doria's Spanish fleet off Ponza in 1552.

In 1734 the archipelago passed to Charles of Bourbon, king of Naples, who settled it with colonists mainly from Ischia; today's islanders descend from them. Under Ferdinand IV the harbour town, the fortress and the public buildings were built. After a brief Napoleonic interlude and capture by a British captain in 1813, Ponza joined Italy in 1861. The Fascist regime made it a place of internal exile for political opponents from 1928, and Mussolini himself was held here from 27 July to 7 August 1943, after his arrest. Bentonite mining at Le Forna ran from 1935 to 1975, when the mines were closed.

Ponza's identity is that of a close island community with Neapolitan roots, shaped by fishing, the sea and the Church. The feast of San Silverio on 20 June is the high point of the year; the Assumption is celebrated at Le Forna on 15 August, and smaller feasts include the Madonna della Civita in July, with a procession and traditional games.

Myth runs through the island's landscape. Ponza has been suggested as Homer's Aeaea, the island of the sorceress Circe, and grottoes on the west coast carry the names of Circe and Ulysses. The cliff of Lucia Rosa recalls a 19-year-old woman who, forbidden by her family to marry the poor farmer she loved, threw herself into the sea; the sea stacks below now bear her name.

The island has long attracted film-makers and celebrities. Federico Fellini shot scenes of Satyricon (1969) here, some of Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic was filmed on the island, and the Rai series Un'altra vita (2014) was largely shot on Ponza. Jacques Cousteau and his son Philippe filmed documentaries in the surrounding waters.

The municipality of Ponza has about 3,100 residents and takes in the uninhabited Zannone, Palmarola, which is lived on only in summer, and Gavi. Most people live in the harbour town and the nearby districts of Guarini, Giancos, I Conti and Santa Maria, and in the north around Campo Inglese and Le Forna.

Tourism is the biggest industry, followed by boatbuilding, boat repair and fishing. Part of the population still fishes and a few grow vines, but farming has shrunk since tourism took hold, and many of the terraces that once covered the hillsides are no longer worked. Restrictions on commercial fishing have weakened the local economy, and many young islanders leave for the mainland and do not return, while other Italians move in.

The year has two rhythms. In summer the harbour fills with yachts, ferries and holidaymakers, the population swells and the narrow road is busy. In winter the ferries are fewer, many businesses close, and the island depends on its boat links to the mainland, which rough seas can interrupt. There is no airstrip; plans for one in the north were cancelled on environmental grounds.

Ponza eats from the sea. The harbour is a working fishing port, and the restaurants along the waterfront and in the streets above serve the fish and seafood landed by local boats. Smaller places to eat are found at Le Forna and around the coves in the north.

Farm production on the island is small but of good quality. Ponza is known for its lentils and for a fragrant white wine sold as Fieno di Ponza IGT. The same terraces have traditionally grown grapes, prickly pears and figs, though many have fallen out of use as islanders turned to tourism.

Most islanders descend from the families who settled here from Ischia in the 18th century, and fishing remains part of island life. Summer evenings centre on the harbour front, where bars and cafés stay open late as the evening stroll goes on.