The history of Nitrodi Spring

Buonopane is the historical heart of the southern part of the island of Ischia, once called Aenaria; the history of this part of the island is closely connected to a healing water spring considered sacred by Apollo and the nymphs of “Nitrodes”.

In 1759 farmers discovered a series of votive images while they were digging trenches for the vines. These stones which are of great importance for the “bathing” history of the Island of Ischia are now at the National Museum of Naples. The twelve reliefs dedicated to Nitrodi’s Nymphs cover a period that went from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD, and they depict just a few of the many people of different social classes that visited the spring. One of the first women to be healed was Argenna, former slave of Poppea Augusta, who dedicated a votive relief to Apollo and the Nymphs hanging it in the sacred woods.

In the 1st century AD the doctor called Menippo “Menippos iatròs upalpinos” arrived in Nitrodi from Northern Italy. He was followed by two other doctors together with their assistants and students: “Aur (elius) Monnus” and “Num (erius) Fabius”.