The Torrione is the most prominent landmark in Forio's centro storico — a cylindrical Aragonese watchtower built in the 16th century as part of the coastal defence system that once ringed the island. Eleven such towers were constructed around Ischia to warn of raids from the Barbary corsairs; the Torrione is the best preserved of them and the only one you can enter.
Inside, the tower has been converted into a small museum dedicated to the local painter Giovanni Maltese (1881–1974), who spent his life documenting Forio and its people in oils and watercolours. The collection gives a vivid sense of what the town looked like a century ago — the fishing boats, the harvests, the festivals. The views from the top of the tower over the rooftops of Forio to the sea are worth the climb alone.