Aenaria, the Lost City Beneath the Sea of Ischia

There’s a spot in Cartaromana Bay, Ischia, where the water is so clear it looks like crystal. Peer beneath the surface, and you’ll glimpse the shapes of an ancient city: walls, columns, and port structures. This is Aenaria, the mysterious submerged Roman city sleeping beneath the sea.

Likely destroyed by an underwater eruption or earthquake in the 2nd century AD, Aenaria still lies almost intact, just meters from the shore and beneath the watchful gaze of the Aragonese Castle of Ischia.

Legends and Secrets of a Sunken City

Aenaria was once a bustling Roman port, known for metalworking and vibrant trade. Archaeologists have discovered numerous forges—evidence of a thriving economy.

Then, silence. The earth shook—perhaps an underwater volcano erupted—and the city was swallowed by the sea. Time buried it, but never erased it. On calm nights, it’s said you can still hear distant echoes: a blacksmith’s hammer, the buzz of a marketplace…

A Seabed that Tells a Story

Exploring Aenaria’s seabed—either by diving or just watching from the surface—is like traveling back in time. Amid the swaying seagrass and sulphur bubbles rising from the volcanic ground, lie the remains of docks, cisterns, Roman houses, and workshops.

Stone blocks, opus reticulatum walls, and amphora fragments paint a vivid picture of daily life in an ancient Roman colony.

Cartaromana Bay itself is one of Ischia’s most scenic spots—a turquoise inlet guarded by rocky cliffs, warmed by underwater thermal springs, and overlooked by the medieval Aragonese Castle.