Il Fungo is the characteristic rock that emerges into the waters in front of the tourist port of Lacco Ameno, the small town in the province of Naples located on the island of Ischia. It is a huge block of tuff shaped by the incessant erosion of the sea and the wind. It is a unique and suggestive formation that today represents one of the best known and most famous symbols of the island. The Mushroom of Lacco Ameno, surrounded by splendid blue waters, reaches a height of ten meters and its origin is attributed to a volcanic eruption of Mount Epomeo which, during a violent activity, caused the tuffaceous megablock to roll into the sea located a few tens of meters from the shore.

Time and the skilful hand of Mother Nature has transformed the boulder into one of the most particular and often photographed beauties of the island, an islet that also hides a pretty little beach at its feet. To make it even more interesting are the many legends that surround it, one of these, confirmed in a writing by the poet from Ischia Cervera, narrates that the Mushroom is the tomb of two young lovers who, with the intention of escaping by sea to crown their dream of love, met their death in this precise spot. “Fate was inexorable, like to that boy and girl who fell in love too soon and wanted to flee into the immense sea. They perished together, and nature, heartbroken, erected a mound for them in the sea, a Mushroom that under the alcove of its umbrella still watches over the rest of the little ones”

Il Fungo di Ischia is a true sentinel of the sea, a rock with a solitary charm that dominates Corso Angelo Rizzoli in Lacco Ameno. Impossible not to stop and admire it, especially during an evening walk, when the lights illuminate the small bay, giving it the magical atmosphere that has always characterized the beauty of one of the most extraordinary destinations in Italy.

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