Spooky season is upon us, so we thought it was the perfect time to share the legend of Isola Gaiola, an ill-fated island off the coast of Naples, with you.
Locals won’t go anywhere near Isola Gaiola. It’s cursed, they say. With a history of disappearances, drownings, murder, and suicide for those who have lived there, you can probably understand why the locals believe the legend.
Abandoned with only a crumbling villa and occasional silent narrow streets, this eerie place strangely draws you in.
Perhaps it’s the emerald waters that lap its rocky shores, or the opportunity to glimpse submerged ancient ruins that attracts brave visitors.
Isola Gaiola sits in the Tyrrhenian Sea and makes up part of the volcanic Campanian Archipelago. The island is two small rocky islets that have been connected by a short and narrow arch-shaped stone bridge.
The name Gaiola, originates from Latin for caveola or ‘little cave’, which accurately describes the cavernous coastline of Posillipo, an affluent residential area of Naples.
It’s so close to the coast that you can reach it by swimming in just a few strokes, or you can take a boat out.
The panoramic views from Gaiola are spectacular, which is perhaps why the island piqued the interest from such prominent figures who suffered what the locals call the Gaiola Malediction.
The history of the island and its surrounding coastline dates back to the 17th century when noble Romans built their factories and scenic holiday homes here.
Legend has it that the esteemed Roman poet Virgil taught his students here, and perhaps even got his divine inspiration from wandering the island.
In the 19th century, Gaiola was inhabited by a hermit, who went by the name of Il Mago (The Wizard). Living a solitary existence, relying only on the almsgiving of local fisherman, one day he vanished without a trace or explanation.
Not long after this mysterious disappearance, the island was purchased by a wealthy businessman called Luigi de Negri who owned a large fishery. He constructed the solitary private villa that still stands today and then promptly suffered financial ruin.
The island then passed into the hands of the maritime engineer Nelson Foley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s brother-in-law, who sold it onto Norman Douglas, author of Siren Land, who sold it back to Foley just seven years later in 1903.
