Michelangelo or Guevara Tower

The Michelangelo tower is the symbol of Ischia, along with the Castello. It majestically rises in front of the Castello, immersed in an immense green field, a few meters away from the very famous “Scogli di S. Anna” (The Saint Anna rocks).

The Torre di Guevara (commonly called the ‘Torre di Michelangelo’ or the ‘Torre di S. Anna’) is a many-towered house built on the eastern stretch of the island’s coast which looks upon the Castello (the natural result of telluric commotion dating back to the 2nd century A.D.which was completely fortified by Alfonso d’Aragona in 1433 when he pre-arranged and solicited with an organized measure the construction of towers along stretches of the adjacent coast so as to protect the little island).

Michelangelo or Guevara Tower

Within the context of serving as a building for defence, the Torre di Guevara was also a house-fortress, the owners being the Guevara family—dukes of Bovino—right up until the early 1800s. Butof Vittoria Colonna on the Castello d’Ischia and Michelangelo’s friendship with the noble castle-dweller have recently substantiated, along with the unfounded belief that Michelangelo had sojourned in the Torre Guevara (an ideal stationing for a ‘loving correspondence’ with his lover), a new, improper name for the building: the Torre di Michelangelo. In fact, in an attempt to confirm the presence of Michelangelo’s presence in Ischia this name has obscured another toponymy— an accredited one—theTorre di S. Anna", This name is due to the presence of a little church dedicated to Sant’Anna on this very site. The Torre di S.Anna was the designation used when the Guevara family abandoned the building. In fact, Torre di S.Anna was also the name used throughout the cartography of the 1800s. 

Michelangelo or Guevara Tower

The building is composed of three levels above the ground, the first floor having a scarp wall which ends with a bull made of live rock. The tower has a square layout and its geometry consists of openings bordered with texture weavings made of thick volcanic rock; this contributes to its accent of marked and intentional sobriety that translates into an image of refined and sophisticated elegance. It has become known as a significant work of the Neapolitan Renaissance..