The Phlegraean Islands ( it, Isole Flegree ; nap, Isule Flegree) are an archipelago in the

Gulf of Naples The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9.3 mi) gulf located along the south-western coast of Italy ( province of Naples, Campania region). It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. I ...

and the

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

region of southern Italy. The name is derived from the common affiliation to the geologic area of the

Phlegraean Fields The Phlegraean Fields ( it, Campi Flegrei ; nap, Campe Flegree, from Ancient Greek 'to burn') is a large region of supervolcanic calderas situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. The area of the c ...

Geography

It consists of the islands of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to ...

Procida Procida (; nap, Proceta ) is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a ''comune'' of the Metropolitan C ...

Vivara Vivara is a satellite islet of Procida, one of the three main islands in the Gulf of Naples. (The other two are Ischia and Capri.) Geography Vivara flanks Procida to the south-west and is connected to it by a bridge. Vivara is a crescent-shape ...

, and Nisida. They are part of the

Campanian volcanic arc The Campanian volcanic arc is a volcanic arc that consists of a number of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in the Campania region of Italy. The Campanian volcanic arc centers on the bay of Naples and includes: * Mount Vesuvius: an active ...

and Campanian Archipelago (Neapolitan Archipelago), off the coast of Naples in the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian p ...

. The archipelago is within the

Metropolitan City of Naples The Metropolitan City of Naples ( it, Città metropolitana di Napoli) is an Italian metropolitan city in Campania region, established on 1 January 2015. Its capital city is Naples; within the city there are 92 comunes (municipalities). It wa ...

. The island of

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has bee ...

is usually excluded, as it does not belong to the same geologic formations.

History

In the classical epoch, some Phlegraean Islands were called Pithecussae, the Greek ' (, ‘islands of monkeys’). A Greek myth tells of two brigands, the

Cercopes In Greek mythology, the Cercopes ( el, Κέρκωπες, plural of Κέρκωψ, from κέρκος (''n''.) ''kerkos'' "tail") were mischievous forest creatures who lived in Thermopylae or on Euboea but roamed the world and might turn up anywhe ...

of Ephesus, who played pranks on Zeus, who then punished them by turning them into monkeys and exiling them to the islands of Aenaria (Ischia) and Prochyta (Procida). Legend had the monster Typhon buried under Ischia, and the Giant Mimas buried under Procida. Such stories might be significant as a clue to how the ancient Greeks attempted to account for the volcanism of the whole area. The resulting changes in the topography of the islands were due to the frequent intervention of deities.

References

Islands of Campania Archipelagoes of Italy Archipelagoes of the Mediterranean Sea Campanian volcanic arc Metropolitan City of Naples Volcanoes of the Tyrrhenian Ischia Phlegraean Fields {{Campania-geo-stub

Geography

History

See also

References