Citara

Citara (Italian: Spiaggia di Citara) is a beach located in Forio d'Ischia, in the Ischia island of Italy, near Punta Imperatore and the village of Panza. Its name comes from Romans who consecrated the site to Venus Citarea, whose statue made of white marble was found in the area. An old legend has it that the rocks, which can be seen from the beach, were in origin sailors transformed into stones as a punishment for passing through. The reference is from Odysseus, in which it is told that “Feaci” (the people living at “Scheria”, a place in the Tyrrhenian area which has been identified with Ischia) provided Ulysses with a boat to get home, so the goddess Venus punished them for helping him.