Procida
The Smallest Inhabited Island In The Bay Of Naples, Italian Capital Of Culture 2022, With The Road Free Fishing Harbour Of Marina Corricella And The Walled Terra Murata · Procida, Campania
Procida is the smallest and least fashionable of the three islands in the Bay of Naples, and that is the entire recommendation. It is about four square kilometres, it has one bus route and more three-wheeled vans than cars, and it is still primarily a fishing and seafaring island rather than a resort, with a nautical school and a lot of families whose men work on ships. What people photograph is Marina Corricella, a fishing harbour of houses stacked up the cliff in flat pinks, yellows and ochres, reached only on foot down steps and with no road into it at all. Above it stands the Terra Murata, the walled upper town, and a vast abandoned prison that was a palace before it was a jail. It was Italy's Capital of Culture in 2022, which brought a wave of attention it has mostly absorbed. Ferries from Naples take under an hour and most people come for the day, which is the mistake: the boats leave in the late afternoon and the island afterwards belongs to the people who live on it.
Via Roma, Procida, Campania, 80079, Italy
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The structure: the harbours, Terra Murata's streets and the beaches are public and never close. The abbey of San Michele Arcangelo opens daily with a midday interval and shorter winter hours. The Palazzo d'Avalos is visited on GUIDED TOURS AT SET TIMES ONLY and is otherwise sealed. Vivara has been closed for extended periods. FERRIES ARE THE REAL TIMETABLE: frequent in summer, thinner in winter and cancelled in wind. Know the last crossing back.