Ponza (island)

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Ponza
Ponza Harbor
Ponza Harbor
Waters Tyrrhenian Sea
Archipelago Pontine Islands
Geographical location 40 ° 54 '14 "  N , 12 ° 57' 47"  E Coordinates: 40 ° 54 '14 "  N , 12 ° 57' 47"  E
Location of Ponza
length 7 km
width 2.3 km
surface 7.3 km²
Highest elevation Monte Guardia
279  m slm
Residents 3300
452 inhabitants / km²
main place Ponza

Ponza is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea around 50 km southwest of Terracina . It belongs to the Italian region of Lazio and is part of the municipality of Ponza in the province of Latina .

The island has the shape of a sickle that extends from the south for seven kilometers in a northeast direction. The island is between 200 and 2300 meters wide and has an area of ​​7.3 square kilometers. About 3300 people live on the island, most of them in the main town of Ponza in the southeast of the island and in Le Forna on the west side.

The landscape of the island is hilly, in its southern part it reaches a height of 279 meters in the Monte Guardia. Geologically, Ponza is of volcanic origin. The coast mostly presents itself as a steep coast. There are also beaches, some of which are only accessible from the sea. The most famous beach is the Chiaia di Luna, which is entered through a 168 meter long tunnel from Roman times. The Chiaia di Luna is bounded by an 80 to 100 meter high wall of tuff rock . After falling rocks with fatalities, the beach was reopened on August 14, 2010 after two years of securing work, but closed again shortly afterwards for almost ten years after falling rocks again. After extensive security measures, including a wire mesh, the beach was opened again at the end of 2019.

Ponza is a popular holiday destination, especially among Italian tourists, especially from Rome . The island can be reached several times a day by several ferry connections from Terracina, Formia , Anzio and San Felice Circeo .

In front of the northeast tip of Ponza is the uninhabited island of Gavi . The highest point of the 14 hectare island is 101 meters above sea ​​level .

In ancient times the name of the island was Pontia . On Ponza (or Palmarola ) Pope Silverius is said to have died in exile in 537 and was buried. On the island, the monastery of Santa Maria di Ponza developed from hermitages , which joined the Cistercian order in 1245 , but was moved to Formia near Gaeta in the 15th century . In 1911, after the Italian invasion of Libya, several thousand Arabs were deported to Italy and interned under inhumane conditions on Ponza and Tremiti . Also during the time of Italian fascism , numerous political prisoners were exiled to Ponza, for example Amadeo Bordiga . Even Benito Mussolini himself was briefly here in 1943 by the Badoglio government interned before the Gran Sasso has been spent. This is where his diary-like manuscript, Pontine and Sardinian Thoughts, was written .

In 1953 Jacques Piccard made a record dive off the island with the Trieste submersible to a depth of 3,150 meters.

swell

  1. ^ Spiaggia Chiaia di Luna a Ponza. Retrieved May 4, 2020 (Italian).
  2. ^ Article in Die Zeit about the Italian crimes in Libya

Web links

Commons : Ponza  - album with pictures, videos and audio files