The Ieranto Bay is located directly across from the sea stacks of Capri and, according to Pliny the Elder, it was precisely here that Ulysses on his way back to Ithaca, as recounted by Homer in the Odyssey, encountered the Sirens.
The defensive towers of Montalto and Campanella witness episodes of Saracen piracy. Today the cultivation of the citrus and olive trees in the traditional terraces continues the ancient local agricultural techniques, so marking a landscape which also plays host to marks of a recent industrial past: a limestone quarry that fell into disuse in the 1950s.
It was donated by Italsider to FAI in 1987 to protect it from the danger of speculation, and it has undergone substantial environmental restoration to reinstate the original Mediterranean maquis: from rosemary to euphorbia and juniper. Today, Ieranto is recognised as a Site of Community Importance for its high level of biodiversity and is included within the Marine Protected Area of Punta Campanella.
FAI - Fondo Ambiente Italiano
Via Carlo Foldi 2 - 20135 Milano
Phone: +39 02 46 76 15 393
Email: m.pizzorni@fondoambiente.it
