It is located offshore in the Gulf of Naples, and a part of the volcanic Campanian Archipelago of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the island was inhabited by a hermit, nicknamed "The Wizard",[3] who lived thanks to the almsgiving of fishermen.

Soon after, the island saw the construction of the villa that occupies it today and which was owned by the maritime engineer, Nelson Foley, brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

From 1896-1903 the owner of the Villa Bechi was Norman Douglas, author of Land of the Siren, but he sold it back to Foley.

[5] Newspapers talked again about the "Gaiola Malediction" in 2009, after the murder of Franco Ambrosio and his wife Giovanna Sacco, who owned a villa opposite the island.