Photo by Evelyscher, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
🇮🇹 Italy · Campania
♨ Temperature
87°C
⛰ Altitude
0 m
⚗ pH
6.8
💧 TDS
3200 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
140 L/s
📅 Established
Ancient Roman period
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
Ischia is the largest island in the Bay of Naples and Europe's foremost thermal island destination. Its 29 licensed thermal parks draw on geothermal waters heated by the Epomeo volcano, reaching temperatures of up to 87°C before cooling for treatment. The island's thermal tradition dates to Roman times — Pliny the Elder wrote of its healing waters. Today, visitors from Naples cruise terminal reach Ischia by hydrofoil in under 45 minutes, discovering a world of sulphurous pools, volcanic mud treatments, and black-sand beaches with natural hot spring outflows. The iconic Sorgeto Cove offers free natural hot springs directly on the sea.
| Chloride | 1840 mg/L |
| Sodium | 1050 mg/L |
| Sulphur | 18 mg/L |
| Bicarbonate | 420 mg/L |
| Calcium | 290 mg/L |
Ischia's thermal history spans over two millennia. The Romans called the island Aenaria and established the first thermae here in the 1st century BC. King Ferdinand IV of Naples built a royal thermal palace on the island in the 18th century. The island's 29 thermal parks are protected under Italian ministerial health licensing dating to the 1930s.
Ischia's thermal culture is inseparable from its identity as a place of dolce vita healing. Locals have practiced balneotherapy for generations, passing down traditions of volcanic mud application, sunrise spring bathing, and fish spa rituals. The island inspired writers and artists including W.H. Auden and Truman Capote, who came to rest in its healing waters.
Ischia's geothermal system is entirely naturally driven, requiring no external heating. The island municipality enforces strict limits on spring extraction rates to preserve aquifer pressure. Several parks have transitioned to solar-powered amenity buildings, and the island's marine protected area limits coastal thermal discharge zones to protect Posidonia seagrass beds.
Phone+39 081 333 210
Websitewww.ischia.it/en/thermal-baths
AddressIsola d'Ischia, 80077 Naples, Italy