Procida - The Bay of Naples’ best kept secret

 

 

The Bay of Naples’ smallest island is also its best-kept secret, a blend of hidden lemon groves, weathered fishermen and pastel-hued houses is memorably picturesque. Lose yourself in colourful Terra Murata, a walled medieval town that’s perched staunchly on a hill. There you’ll find the 15th-century Palazzo D’Avalos and Abbazia di San Michele, an 11th-century Benedictine abbey.

 

 

 

Procida is a small island in the Bay of Naples in southern Italy, situated between the mainland and the larger island of Ischia. Procida is very heavily populated, with 10,000 residents squeezed into less than two square miles, and it has a more authentic, lived-in feel than touristy Capri and Ischia. The island doesn't have many particular sights of interest, and unfortunately it appears to neglect those it does have. This can be frustrating for travellers, who would be better advised to come here for the island's picturesque, somewhat shabby charm than to seek out cultural attractions.

 

 

 

The most picturesque and charming spot on the island of Procida is Marina Corricella. This is a thin sliver of waterfront backed by a cliff made of fishermen's houses - at least, that's the colourful impression. Behind a long fishing harbour, houses were built on and into the rock in a kind of pretty vertical muddle. There are several bars and restaurants in Corricella, with tables attractively scattered along the waterfront, interspersed with painted fishing-boats and harbour cats hiding among piled nets. Despite the obvious tourist appeal of the settlement, it still has an 'authentic' feel, like so much of Procida. This is a wonderful spot for a lazy lunch or a romantic evening meal with the water lapping nearby. Unfortunately it is a bit of a walk from the nearest bus routes, and you have to climb up the lanes or steps to leave the settlement, but it is well worth the effort. If you've just visited the Terra Murata, you can take a flight of steps down to Corricella from the road leading up to the headland.

 

 

 

 

There are many religious traditions on the island tied to the period of Holy Week before Good Friday. The most evocative of these are the Procession of the Apostles of Holy Thursday and the Procession of the Mysteries of Good Friday. The last one is based on a tradition going back to the end of the 17th century. In the procession, the young males of the island, dressed in the traditional dress of the "Confraternity of the Turchini", carry allegorical wagons (called "mysteries") of religious character for a fixed distance, from the village of Torre Murata to the port of Marina Grande. The "mysteries", often highly artistic, are prepared by the young people and generally nobody except them would have, at least in theory, seen them before the procession. After the procession, they are taken apart or destroyed.

Every summer, there is an election of the Graziella ("Little Graceful"), a young woman that wears the customary clothes of the island, referring to the history told in Alphonse de Lamartine's novel, Graziella. Also during the summer, a literary award dedicated to Elsa Morante and her novel, Arthur's Island, is presented.

 

 

 

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