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Castello Aragonese is the most important monument of Ischia (Via Pontile Aragonese n. 3). The Convent of the Clare nuns, located inside the Castle, was founded in 1577 by the bishop Fabio Polverino who approved the order of Saint Clare on the 14 July 1577. The foundress, Beatrice Quadra, donated the structure that became the convent1.
Castello Aragonese
Way to the Convent
Entrance to the Cemetery
According to the tradition the corpses of the nuns weren’t buried but were located under the “Chiesa dell’Immacolata”. This place is called “Cimitero delle Monache”. The stone seats, in which the corpses were put, can still be seen. In this way corpses slowly decomposed and “humors” flowed through a hole in the middle of the seats. This caused a natural process of mummification.
This custom created a popular proverb:”Pozza sculà” that is a sort of curse and means: “May you drain”.2.
Stone seats of the Cemetery
Cimitero delle Monache in the 1950s3.
The dried skeletons were settled in the common ossuary.4.
Common ossuary
Everyday the nuns went to the Cemetery to pray. It is probable that the low hygienic conditions caused infectious diseases, often mortal5.
- Main text and photos by Giuseppe Grieco and Raffaele Mazzella (December 2017)
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Bibliography
- Giovanni Di Meglio, Storia e leggende del Castello Aragonese, Valentino Editore, Ischia 2011, pp. 95-97
- Filomena Sardella, Architetture di Ischia, Edizioni del Castello Aragonese by Analisi Trend, Ischia 1985, p. 42