Castello Aragonese
The Aragonese Castle stands on a rocky islet connected to the trachytic rock to the eastern side of the island of Ischia by a stone bridge 220 meters long.
The bedrock is geologically called “dome of stagnation” and is equivalent to a bubble of magma which consolidated during the eruptive phenomena of wider interest. It reaches a height of 113 meters above the sea level and has an area of about 56,000 square meters.
It can be reached by mule track or by a modern elevator installed in the late '70s.
The trail is developed, for the first leg, in a tunnel excavated in the rock (by the will of Alfonso I of Aragon in the middle of the fifteenth century) and then go outside until you reach the highest point is located where is the Maschio Angioino.
From this main road serving other smaller ones up to buildings and gardens of the castle. The elevator reaches instead the 60 mt above the sea level and its course is entirely built inside the rock.
The built covers a small part of the total area mostly occupied by the ruins and cultivated land, what was the character portrayed densely built iconography eighteenth century was largely erased by the war of the early nineteenth century, followed long years of neglect. Only in the early twentieth century began a systematic campaign of restoration, still in progress, which has returned and continues to return an architectural dignity to this impressive monument.
Indisputable dominant image of the castle are the silhouettes of a royal residence, named Maschio (which cannot be visited), and placed on the highest point of the north east, and the dome of the Church of the Immaculate, a counterpoint to all the central island .
Effective mediation between the rocky ridges and the part is built ramparts that wraps around the Castle for 3/4 of its perimeter characterizing strongly together.

Itinerary of the east
The first fortress was built in 474 BC from the Greek Hieron I of Syracuse, came to the aid of the Cumans in the war against the Tyrrhenian. High towers were erected, among other things, to monitor the movement of the enemy vessels. After the war, Hiero retained the island. It was later occupied by Partenopei. In 326 BC the Romans took it over and then again Partenopei. Looting and the long domination of the Visigoths, Vandals, Goths, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Angevins completely transformed the fortress of Hiero. The last eruption in 1301 destroyed the city Geronda Epomeo, which stood where now grows the pine forest: people took refuge on the island. In 1441 Alfonso of Aragon rebuilt the old Angevin Castle, joined the island to the main island with an artificial bridge and built strong walls and fortifications, in which almost all the people of Ischia found refuge and protection against pirates raids. At the beginning of 1700 the fortress housed 1892 families, as well as the Convent of Poor Clares, the Abbey of Brazilians of Greece, with the Bishop and the Chapter Seminar, Prince with the garrison. There were 13 churches, of which 7 parishes. In 1750, when the danger of pirates ceased, the people looked more comfortable living in various towns of the island of Ischia. In 1809 the English besieged the fortress, held by the French, and shelled it up to almost completely destroying it. In 1823 the King of Naples sent out the last 30 inhabitants and reduced the castle as a place of punishment. In 1851 he transformed it into a political prison. Later it became house arrest.

NOTICE
The Aragonese Castle of Ischia will be closed to the public from 7 to 31 January 2020 for routine maintenance works.
The visit will resume regularly from 1 February 2020 with the usual times