Kamma, Pantelleria Aeroporto, Scauri, Bagno Dell'Acqua, Bonsulton, Buccaram Di Sopra, Bugeber, Campobello, Contrada Venedise, Cufurà, Gadir, Garitte Karuscia, Khaddiuggia, Khamma Fuori, Località Cimillia, Località Mursia, Località Punta Fram, Località Roncone – Salerno, Località Ziton, Madonna Delle Grazie, Martingana, Mordomo, Penna, San Michele, San Vito, Santa Chiara, Scauri I, Siba – Roncone, Villaggio Tre Pietre
With an area of 83 km2 (32 sq mi), Pantelleria is the largest volcanic satellite island of Sicily. The last eruption occurred below sea level in 1891, and today phenomena related to volcanic activity are present, such ashot springs andfumaroles. The highest peak, theMontagna Grande, reaches 836 m (2,743 ft) above sea level. The islanders speakPantesco, a dialect of Sicilian influenced by Arabic.
The original Arab name for the island wasBint al-Riyāḥ (Arabic:بنت الرياح and Maltese:Bint l-Irjieħ), meaning "Daughter of the Winds" after the strong gales that can arise off the north coast of Africa.
ItsSicilian name isPantiddirìa, which gave rise to the present Maltese namePantellerija.
The earliest evidence of human activity dates to the Neolithic, where it appears visitors to the island would arrive temporarily in order to extract obsidian for dispersion elsewhere in the central Mediterranean.[10] The earliest permanent settlement would not begin until the Bronze Age, with the primary site, Mursia, being the only settlement known from the period.[11] The iconic Sesi, megalithic multi-burial structures, would be built during this period as well.[12]
The original population of Pantelleria did not come from Sicily, but were ofIberian or Ibero-Ligurian ancestry. After a considerable interval, during which the island probably remained uninhabited, theCarthaginians took possession of it, no doubt owing to its importance as a station on the way to Sicily. This probably occurred around the beginning of the 7th centuryBC. Theiracropolis was the twin hill of San Marco and Santa Teresa, 2 km (1+1⁄4 mi) south of the present town of Pantelleria. The town has considerable remains of walls made of rectangular blocks of masonry and also of a number of cisterns.Punic tombs have been discovered, and the votive terra-cottas of a small sanctuary of the Punic period were found near the north coast.
TheRomans occupied the island as theFasti Triumphales record in 255BC, lost it again the next year, and recovered it in 217BC. It struckbronze coins, originally with aPunic inscription but changing toLatin by the 1st centuryBC.[8] Under theempire, it served as a place of banishment for prominent persons and members of the imperial family. The town enjoyedmunicipal rights.
In 700AD,Arabs conquered the island. In 1123,Roger II of Sicily took the island, and in 1311 anAragonese fleet under the command ofLluís de Requesens won a considerable victory here. Requesens's family became princes of Pantelleria until 1553, when aTurkish fleet commanded byDragut sacked the island.[13] A naval battle took place near the island in July 1586 when an armed Englishmerchant fleet of five ships managed torepel an attack by elevenSpanish and Maltese galleys.
ASiculo-Arabic dialect similar toMaltese was the vernacular of the island until the late 18th century, when theRomanceSicilian superseded it. The modern Sicilian language in Pantelleria contains manyArabic loanwords, and most of the island's place names are ofSemitic origin.
During theNapoleonic Wars, the British considered the possibility of taking over Pantelleria (together withLampedusa andLinosa) so as to be able to supplyMalta, but a royal commission stated in an 1812 report that there would be considerable difficulties in this venture.[14]
Pantelleria's capture was regarded as crucial toOperation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 as planes based on Pantelleria could readily reach Sicily. InOperation Corkscrew the Allies bombarded Pantelleria heavily from air and sea in the days before the invasion. The garrison surrendered as the landing troops approached. Pantelleria then became a vital base for Allied aircraft during the assault on Sicily.
A MiddleBronze Age village was on the west coast, 3 km (2 mi) southeast of the harbour, with a rampart of small blocks oflava, about 7.5 m (25 ft) high, 10 m (33 ft) wide at the base and 5 m (16 ft) at the top, upon the undefended eastern side. Remains of huts were found there, with pottery, tools ofobsidian, and other artifacts. These objects are in the museum atSyracuse.
To the southeast, in the district known as the Cunelie, are many tombs, known assesi. They are similar in character to thenuraghe ofSardinia, though of smaller size, and consist of round or elliptical towers with sepulchral chambers in them, built of rough blocks of lava. Fifty-seven of them can still be traced. The largest is an ellipse of about 18 m × 20 m (59 ft × 66 ft), but most of thesesi have a diameter of only 6–7 m (20–23 ft). The identical character of the pottery found in thesesi with that found in the prehistoric village proves that the former are the tombs of the inhabitants of the latter.
The island has scattered typical one-level buildings calleddammuso of unknown but probably remote origins. Adammuso is adry stone building with thick walls that usually appear black due to the extensive use ofvolcanic rock. They have characteristic domes on top painted white to avoid overheating. The domes collect rainwater that is directed to a large tank (usually below the building) or to the nearby soil for use in the dry season.
Most of the other constructions were destroyed during theSecond World War. One notable exception is the castleBarbacane, a renaissance building formed by an irregularly quadrangular plan with internal court joined to a squared base tower.
The island of Pantelleria is located above a drowned continental rift in theStrait of Sicily and has been the focus of intensive volcano-tectonic activity. The 15 kilometre-long (9.3 mi) island is the emergent summit of a largely submarine edifice.[15] Two largePleistocenecalderas dominate the island, the older of the two formed about 114,000 years ago and the younger Cinque Denti caldera formed about 45,000 years ago.[16] The eruption that formed the Cinque Denti caldera produced the distinctive greentuff deposit that covers much of the island, and is found across the Mediterranean, as far away as the island ofLesbos in the Aegean Sea.[17]Holocene eruptions have constructedpumice cones,lava domes, and short, blockylava flows.[18]
Later activity constructed the cone of Monte Gibele, part of which was subsequently uplifted to form Montagna Grande. Several vents are located on three sides of the uplifted Montagna Grande block on the southeast side of the island. A submarine eruption in 1891 from a vent off the northwest coast is the only confirmed historical activity.[19]
Currently the island is subsiding, and Montagna Grande is slowly sinking. This is thought to be caused by themagma beneath the volcano cooling and degassing.[20] There are numeroushot springs andfumaroles on the island due to an activehydrothermal system. Favara Grande, in the south east of the island, is one of the best examples. The island is releasing a small amount ofCO2 through passive degassing.[21]Total carbon stock in the first 30 cm (12 in) of soil of Pantelleria is about 230,000 tonnes.[22]The island is thetype locality forpantellerite, aperalkalinerhyolite.
Pantelleria has asubtropicalMediterranean climate (Köppen:Csa) characterized by very warm to hot, almost rainless and humid summers, very mild andfrost-free winters, a powerfulseasonal lag and a smalldiurnal temperature range. The constant sea breezes moderate the daytime summer temperatures. Coastal Pantelleria (along withLampedusa,Kasos,Karpathos,Kastellorizo and coastalMalta) is one of the very few areas along the Mediterranean Sea coast that has never recorded frost. Below freezing temperatures and snow only occur, and sporadically, at Montagna Grande and higher elevations on the island. Despite the very dry summers and the fairly low annual precipitation, the dry season is noticeably short at four months, and the rainy season lasts at least eight months.
Climate data for Pantelleria (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1971–2020)
Pantelleria National Park (Italian:Parco Nazionale dell'Isola di Pantelleria) was established in 2016, and covers an area of66.4 km2 (25+5⁄8 sq mi), or 80% of the island.[26] Specchio di Venere (literally "Venus' mirror") is a natural lake formed in an extinctvolcanic crater, and fed by rain and hot springs. The lake is 12 m (39 ft) deep and is popular for swimming, hot springs, andmud bathing.
Other natural attractions are paths to the sea, a large network oftrekking paths, hot springs, and a popular naturalsauna fed byvapours filtering through rocks in a small cave. Also situated on the Island is Laghetto delle Ondine ("Pond of the ripples" or "Pond of the wavelets") a seawater lake which has developed into a very desiredswimming hole.[27]
The economy of Pantelleria consists mainly of agriculture and tourism. Pantelleria is noted for its sweet wines, Moscato di Pantelleria and Moscato Passito di Pantelleria, both made from the localZibibbo grape.[29] In 2014, the traditional agricultural practice of cultivating thevite ad alberello (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity ofUNESCO.[30]
The island is served byPantelleria Airport,[31] which is served byDAT, connectingTrapani andPalermo and other companies in summer, connecting the island with Italian cities such asMilan,Rome,Venice and others. Ferries reach the island fromTrapani, and it is near the main east–west route through theMediterranean Sea.
^Cangemi, Marianna; Censi, Paolo; Reimer, Andreas; D'Alessandro, Walter; Hause-Reitner, Dorothea; Madonia, Paolo; Oliveri, Ygor; Pecoraino, Giovannella; Reitner, Joachim (April 2016). "Carbonate precipitation in the alkaline lake Specchio di Venere (Pantelleria Island, Italy) and the possible role of microbial mats".Applied Geochemistry.67:168–176.Bibcode:2016ApGC...67..168C.doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2016.02.012.
^Muntoni, Italo M.; Micheletti, Francesca; Mongelli, Nicola; Pallara, Mauro; Acquafredda, Pasquale (October 2022). "First evidence in Italian mainland of Pantelleria obsidian: Highlights from WD-XRF and SEM-EDS characterization of Neolithic artefacts from Galliano necropolis (Taranto, Southern Italy)".Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.45 103553.Bibcode:2022JArSR..45j3553M.doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103553.
^Marcucci, Serena (22 December 2008). "La capanna B6 dell'abitato dell'Antica Età del Bronzo di Mursia (Pantelleria –TP) e le strutture produttive domestiche".IpoTESI di Preistoria.1 (1):125–199.doi:10.6092/issn.1974-7985/1359.
^Braudel, Fernand (1995).The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Berkeley, Calif: Univ of California Press. p. 927.ISBN978-0-520-20330-3.
^Mahood, Gail A.; Hildreth, Wes (June 1986). "Geology of the peralkaline volcano at Pantelleria, Strait of Sicily".Bulletin of Volcanology.48 (2–3):143–172.Bibcode:1986BVol...48..143M.doi:10.1007/BF01046548.
^Margari, V.; Pyle, D.M.; Bryant, C.; Gibbard, P.L. (June 2007). "Mediterranean tephra stratigraphy revisited: Results from a long terrestrial sequence on Lesvos Island, Greece".Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.163 (1–4):34–54.Bibcode:2007JVGR..163...34M.doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2007.02.002.
^Mattia, M.; Bonaccorso, A.; Guglielmino, F. (November 2007). "Ground deformations in the Island of Pantelleria (Italy): Insights into the dynamic of the current intereruptive period".Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.112 (B11) 2006JB004781.Bibcode:2007JGRB..11211406M.doi:10.1029/2006jb004781.
^D'Alessandro, W. (2007).Final report of Research Unit V3_7/02. Palermo, Italy: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Palermo.hdl:2122/4911.
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