Weddings in Procida, Italy

Off the coast of Naples lie the Flegree islands, and among them is Procida. Less than 4 kilometers long, its population about 10,000, Procida has been a vacation spot since ancient times, where the rich citizens of Rome used to spend their holidays.

On the approach to Procida from Naples by ship, the first visible landmark is the ancient home of the Avalos family, former Spanish rulers of the island. The Avalos Palace appears a solitary structure, but behind it spreads out the Terra Murata, the Walled Lands. The Terra Murata was the only inhabited portion of the island in days past, when the Middle Ages islanders built their houses next to each other to form a defensible town. Travelers can walk the streets of the Walled Lands, seeing such historical interests as the gate of Mezz'Omo ("half man"), the Piazza d'Armi (Army Square) and the De Iorio Palace, once used as a woman's orphanage from before the 17th century.

Many examples of Procida architecture were demolished in the Fifties due to landslides, but one prime example remains to be seen; the House of Belvedere with it's irregular arches and external stairway. Also remaining is the Benedictine Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo (Saint Michael the Archangel), which was founded in 1206, converting an ancient religious structure that had stood since the 5th century. It is commonly believed this site has religious significance stretching back even further, and that here once was a temple to Neptune the Agriculturist. In the Romanesque structure of the Abbey is an oil painting depicting San Michele rousting the devil, and the initials that adorn it suggest it to be the work of the famous Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano.

During the Spanish reign of the 16th century the Procida islanders began to move out of Terra Murata, carving caves in the cliff face to shelter boats, and then building homes nearby in the area that come to be known as Corricella. The village is surrounded on most sides by a sheltering cliff, and a long sheltering ridge of rocks blocks the south-eastern wind, protecting the area so well that even the dead of winter is mild in Corricella.