Ventotene (Italian: [ventoˈtɛːne]; locally Vientutene; Latin: Pandataria or Pandateria; Ancient Greek: Πανδατερία, romanized: Pandatería, or Πανδατωρία, Pandatōría)[1] is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 46 kilometres (25 nautical miles) off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy.

The municipality includes the small ancillary island of Santo Stefano, located 2 km (1+1⁄4 mi) to the east, which was the site of a massive prison, now closed.

It is now known as the Villa Giulia as it was possibly the place to which he banished his daughter Julia the Elder in 2 BC as a reaction to her notorious adultery[3] and where he could easily keep an eye on her.

Sometime later, Julia Livilla was discreetly starved to death and her remains were probably brought back to Rome when her older sister Agrippina the Younger became influential as Claudius' wife.

Another distinguished lady of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudia Octavia, who was the first wife of the emperor Nero, was banished to Pandateria in 62 AD and then executed on the orders of her husband.

[7] In August 2016, then-Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi met with then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then-French President François Hollande on Ventotene, to lay a wreath at the tomb of Altiero Spinelli and review European Union policy in the light of the then-impending British withdrawal from the EU.

[9] The marine reserve, which covers a 10 km long coastal area, is divided into three zones with varying degrees of protection and permitted activities.

During the height of the spring migration in April and May, thousands of birds arrive daily from North Africa's coasts after having flown 400 – 500 km non-stop.

[15] The Pontian Archipelago offers the first chance to stop after the prolonged flight and, due to the tiny size of Ventotene, the concentration of birds of numerous species is extremely high.

[17]: 20–22 At the foot of the lighthouse are the remnants of the Roman fishery excavated in the rock, consisting of three pools, one outside and two in rooms with arched roofs where fragments of decorated plaster and stuccoes remain.

[17]: 27–29 As Ventotene has never had an adequate supply of fresh water, several enormous cisterns to collect rainwater were built in Roman times in the central parts of the island.

This involved the architecture of institutional buildings to allow all prison cells to be observed by a single unseen security guard, who may or may not be present, giving them the sensation of being constantly watched.

[17]: 85–89 [18][circular reference] Many famous political prisoners have spent time here, such as Carmine Crocco, the most important brigand during the Italian unification, and Gaetano Bresci, the anarchist who killed King Umberto I in 1900 and was imprisoned there for a year before being hanged in his cell by his jailers.

Unfortunately, all statues from Villa Giulia have disappeared or been sold in indiscriminate plundering over the centuries, and all that remains is a marble head bust of emperor Tiberius, on display in the museum.

[17]: 94–95 [20] In July 2009, archaeologists announced the discovery of a "graveyard" of five ancient Roman ships in the deep waters off Ventotene, with their pristine cargoes of olive oil, garum and metal ingots.

The festival culminates in a day-long feast and religious procession on the 20th, when a statue of Saint Candida, placed on a flower adorned boat, exits the church, and is carried around the island's narrow streets on the shoulders of eight men.