Vivara Islet

Kraak! Just a short distance from Procida, connected by a recently restored bridge, lies a little pearl that not everyone knows about: the island of Vivara. Just 0.4 km² in the middle of the Gulf of Naples — and yet there's a whole world inside.

The name comes from the Latin "vivarium", meaning "a place where animals live." And animals here truly feel at home. Criii! Vivara is a green lung of Mediterranean scrubland — that low, fragrant vegetation typical of our sea, made up largely of holm oaks, myrtles and strawberry trees. A natural paradise, quiet and unhurried, where the wind carries scents you won't find anywhere else.

Did you know that in 2002 the Ministry of the Environment declared it a State Nature Reserve? Today it can be visited through a guided group tour service organised by the Vivara Island State Nature Reserve authority. You can't wander in alone or slip through unnoticed: you are accompanied, and that makes every visit all the more special.

But Vivara is more than just nature. Squa-squa! The island has an archaeological, artistic and architectural soul that reaches deep into the past. Remains of the Mycenaean civilisation — the so-called "peoples of the sea", one of the oldest civilisations in the Mediterranean — have been found here. And then there is the Bourbon architecture: the complex of the former Bourbon Hunting Lodge, the royal hunting residence, standing alongside the ancient farmhouse dating from 1681, complete with its vinarium and olive press. Stone upon stone, layer upon layer of history.

Vivara is part of the territory of the Municipality of Procida and is one of its most precious resources: a unique ecosystem, rich in biodiversity — meaning an extraordinary variety of Mediterranean flora and fauna — that deserves to be discovered with care and curiosity. Have you booked your visit yet? Kraak!