Off the Tourist Path: Gaiola Island, Naples

Well away from the throngs of tourists in other parts of Italy, the tiny double island of Gaiola just west of Naples is abandoned and ghostly. There are many legends about the place being cursed. In the early 1800s, the island was inhabited by a local hermit who everyone knew only as "Il Mago" (the Wizard). As most hermits, he lived a troubled, lonely life, existing on handouts of fish from local fishermen. Without warning, he mysteriously disappeared. It's not known if he cursed the island, but many unfortunate things came to pass for people who lived on the island or owned the island. There is a small villa on one of the islets that has been occupied by many different types of people: A famous author, a Swiss businessman, a  German investor, a pharmaceutical magnate, a steel baron, the Head of Fiat, billionaire J. Paul Getty, and an insurance company CEO. All met with strange fates either while on the island or shortly after purchasing it. Here's just a few of the cursed events:

• One owner found murdered, wrapped in a blanket in the villa.
• The murdered man's wife was found drowned in the sea.
• Another owner died of a heart attack on the island.
• One man was driven mad and died in an insane asylum after living there.
• An industrialist lost his fortune while living on the island.
• The owner of Fiat lost his only son to suicide.
• After being groomed to take over Fiat, the former head's nephew also died--of a rare cancer at age 33.
• After buying the island, Paul Getty's grandson was kidnapped.
  
• The last owner's company failed and he was thrown in jail
• As recently as 2009, two other people were found murdered just opposite the shore of the islands. 
  
  

The two twin islets are only about 100 feet from the amazingly rugged and beautiful coast of Posillipo. Their main attraction is that they are akin to the original Siamese Twins, joined by a narrow stone bridge that runs between them. In Italian, their name is Isola La Gaiola, which uses a variant of the local dialect word for cave (caviola), referring to the many small caves and grottoes are seemingly everywhere along this part of the coast.

For for SCUBA divers and and snorkelers alike, Gaiola is a wonderful haven. They are a part of the Gaiola Underwater park, a 100 acre marine preserve meant to protect the diverse marine ecosystem here as well as ancient underwater Roman ruins. Underwater ruins are scattered around the crystal clear waters. Some of the marine creatures here are found nowhere else on Earth. Consider the excitement of snorkeling among the underwater ruins of an ancient Roman temple.

Gaiola was originally known to the Romans as Euplea, which was the protector of safe navigation, and was home to a temple erected to honor the goddess Venus. Other Roman ruins are also found here... just under the surface of the sea are the ruins of an ancient Roman harbor. If you look at Gaiola from space via Google Earth, you can easily see the outlines of ancient structures. There is also a legend that claims the  poet and wizard, Virgil, taught his students on the island. Perhaps their incantations and poetry can still be felt and heard in the crashing of the waves and sounds of the winds...

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To find out more about visiting or snorkeling Gaiola, click here...  Gaiola Underwater Park.

--Jerry Finzi

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