DOI chapter:
Chap. I: Bay and Castle of Procida - Evening Hymn - Beautiful View, Observations - the Island of Vivara - Ischia, its Mountains, Eruptions, Appearance, and Population - Nisida - Vesuvius
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62268#0012
2 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. I.
landed, while my companions pursued their course
to the island of Ischia, about four miles fur-
ther.
Procida is about two miles from the continent:
its shore, towards the west, is comparatively low,
but it swells gradually towards the east, and ter-
minates in a bold promontory, the summit of
which is crowned with the castle or royal palace.
The prominence of this point on one side, and
the Punta del Vomera about a mile from it to
the south, form a little bay. The promontory is
sufficiently lofty to entitle the island, of which it
is the most conspicuous feature, to the epithet
alta*, which Virgil gives it, as the rocks which
line its eastern and southern coasts justify the
word aspera employed by Statiusf. Besides the
harbor which I have described, there are on the
same coast several creeks, which afford shelter to
fishing boats and small vessels, and contribute
much to the variety and the romantic beauty that
eminently characterize this and the neighboring
shores and islands.
There is no regular inn, I believe, in the town,
but strangers are received and very well treated
*ix. 715,
f Sylva, ii. 2.
landed, while my companions pursued their course
to the island of Ischia, about four miles fur-
ther.
Procida is about two miles from the continent:
its shore, towards the west, is comparatively low,
but it swells gradually towards the east, and ter-
minates in a bold promontory, the summit of
which is crowned with the castle or royal palace.
The prominence of this point on one side, and
the Punta del Vomera about a mile from it to
the south, form a little bay. The promontory is
sufficiently lofty to entitle the island, of which it
is the most conspicuous feature, to the epithet
alta*, which Virgil gives it, as the rocks which
line its eastern and southern coasts justify the
word aspera employed by Statiusf. Besides the
harbor which I have described, there are on the
same coast several creeks, which afford shelter to
fishing boats and small vessels, and contribute
much to the variety and the romantic beauty that
eminently characterize this and the neighboring
shores and islands.
There is no regular inn, I believe, in the town,
but strangers are received and very well treated
*ix. 715,
f Sylva, ii. 2.