Discover Casamicciola

History of Casamicciola

Thermal waters, faith, illustrious guests and rebirths: four centuries of history in a small town overlooking the Gulf.

Few places tell their story through water as Casamicciola does. The hot springs rising from the volcanic subsoil, starting with the Gurgitello spring, led to the founding here in 1604 of one of Europe’s first thermal hospices, run by the Pio Monte della Misericordia, and later, in the 19th century, to a holiday resort frequented by aristocrats, artists and writers from all over the continent.

It is a community that has always known how to renew itself. After 1883 the town was reborn facing the sea: its centre moved towards the Marina, where the new Pio Monte, the new mother church and the buildings that still welcome visitors arriving from the harbour were built. In these pages you will find the churches and religious traditions, the milestones of the spa tradition, the people who loved Casamicciola and the transformations of its landscape.

To begin: the origins of thermal cures, the Pio Monte della Misericordia, the rebirth after 1883 and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maddalena, the town’s mother church.

Milestones

Casamicciola through the ages

  1. Antiquity

    The island’s hot waters

    Thermal bathing has been practised on Ischia since the time of the Greek colonists. A legend links the town’s name to the matron Nisola, healed by its waters and depicted on the municipal coat of arms.

  2. Giulio Iasolino’s treatise

    The Calabrian physician publishes De’ rimedi naturali in Naples, devoting great attention to the Gurgitello spring in Casamicciola.

  3. The Pio Monte della Misericordia

    The Neapolitan charitable institution decides to found a thermal hospice for the sick poor in Casamicciola; the first season of treatments is held in July 1605.

  4. The new Gurgitello spa

    The spa building commissioned by Ferdinand II, today’s Antiche Terme Belliazzi, opens in Piazza Bagni. Casamicciola is a spa resort known throughout Europe.

  5. Garibaldi at the spa

    On 19 June Giuseppe Garibaldi arrives in Casamicciola to treat the wound he received at Aspromonte with the waters of the Occhio and Gurgitello springs.

  6. Ibsen’s summer

    The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen settles at Villa Pisani, where he presses on with writing Peer Gynt.

  7. The rebirth

    After 1883 Casamicciola renews itself and moves down towards the sea: the centre of town life shifts from the Piazza Maio hill to the Marina, where the town’s present-day face takes shape.

  8. New rules and new science

    From 15 September a new building code comes into force for the island’s municipalities; at the Grande Sentinella the Geodynamic Observatory is founded, directed by Giulio Grablovitz.

  9. The new Pio Monte by the sea

    The Pio Monte’s new thermal hospice opens on the seafront, leaving Piazza Bagni to look out over the gulf.

  10. The new mother church

    On 31 May the church of Sacro Cuore e Santa Maria Maddalena (Sacred Heart and St Mary Magdalene), commissioned by the parish priest Giuseppe Morgera, is inaugurated; it has been a minor basilica since 1965.

  11. Rizzoli and the Terme Manzi

    The publisher Angelo Rizzoli begins the purchase and revival of the Manzi Baths and Hotel in Piazza Bagni.

  12. Casamicciola Terme

    In recognition of its abundant thermal waters, the municipality adds ‘Terme’ (Spa) to its name.

  13. Today

    A town looking ahead

    On 17 September 2025 the Pio Monte complex became the property of the Municipality, with a restoration project that includes the Gurgitello spring.

To discover

Places and stories of Casamicciola

Churches and traditions, spa history, notable figures, rebirth and science: explore the pages by theme.

Origins and history of Casamicciola

Churches, faith and traditions

Volcanic and geological history

Famous people

Rebirth and transformation

History and science

History of spa culture