Piazzale Papa Giovanni Paolo II, Forio

The square in front of the church of Santa Maria del Soccorso used to be called Piazza Soccorso and its current name was received relatively recently. On June 5, 2002, Pope John Paul II visited Forio and held a meeting with young people in the square. In honor of this visit, which was held as part of the World Youth Day, the square received its real name.

In the center of the square is the Forio Municipal Building. It is a former Franciscan monastery founded in the 14th century and existed until 1866.

To the right, the City Hall is flanked by two churches - St. Francis of Assisi and Madonna delle Grazie. Their altarpieces overlook the square.

In different parts of the square there are several hewn stone blocks of various shapes, apparently serving as benches. They are carved and volcanic rock-tufa. You can notice that the stone has a greenish tint, so it is called green tuff.

From the north side of the square you can see the bay and the harbor of Forio, in the distance the north-western tip of the island with the cape Punta Caruso.

From the south side, you can see the high cape of Punta Imperatore, also in this direction the sun sets and you can observe an interesting optical effect called "green ray".

If you look to the north, you will see the highest part of the island, the volcanic cone of Monte Epomeo. The best view from Forio is the crater of an extinct volcano.