Ponza
Ponza is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea about 50 km southwest of Terracina. It belongs to the Italian region of Lazio, and is part of the municipality of Ponza in the province of Latina.
The island has the shape of a sickle, which extends from the south over seven kilometers to the northeast. Between 200 and 2300 meters wide island has an area of 7.3 square kilometers. On the island live about 3300 people, most of them in the main town in the southeast of the island of Ponza and in Le Forna on the west side.
The topography of the island has a hilly character, in its southern part it reaches the Monte Guardia a height of 279 meters. Geologically, Ponza volcanic origin. The coastline is mostly a cliff dar. There are also beaches that are accessible only from the sea to part. The most famous beach is the Chiaia di Luna, which is entered through a 168 meter long tunnel from Roman times. The Chiaia di Luna is limited by a 80 to 100 -foot wall of tuff. After a rockfall the beach was opened permanent stabilization work on 14 August 2010 after two years.
Ponza is a popular holiday destination, especially among Italian tourists, especially from Rome. The island is accessible by several times a day several ferry from Terracina, Formia, Anzio and San Felice Circeo.
Upstream from the northeast tip of Ponza is the uninhabited island of Gavi. The highest point of the 14 -acre island lies 101 meters above sea level.
In ancient times, the island's name Pontia. On Ponza (or Palmarola ) the Pope Silverius to have been dead and buried in 537 in exile. On the island, the monastery of Santa Maria di Ponza, which in 1245 joined the Cistercian order, but was moved in the 15th century to Formia at Gaeta developed from hermitages. In 1911 several thousand deported to the Italian invasion of Libya Arabs to Italy and interned at Ponza and Tremiti under inhuman conditions. Even during the time of Italian fascism numerous political prisoners were banished to Ponza, for example, Amadeo Bordiga. Even Benito Mussolini was here in 1943 briefly interned by the Badoglio government, before being sent to the Gran Sasso. Here he wrote his diary- like manuscript Pontine and Sardinian thoughts.
In 1953 Jacques Piccard took the Trieste dive boat off the island a record dive to a depth of 3150 meters.