Pantelleria

The Carthaginians knew the island as YRNM (Punic: 𐤉𐤓𐤍𐤌)[4] or ʾYRNM (Punic: 𐤀𐤉𐤓𐤍𐤌).[5]

The Greek geographers recorded it as Kossyra (Ancient Greek: Κόσσυρα) and Kossyros (Ancient Greek: Κόσσυρος),[6] which became the Latin Cossura.[5] This appears in Arabic as Qawṣirah (قوصرة) and Maltese as the former name Qawsra.

The original Arab name for the island was Bint al-Riyāh (بنت الرياح), meaning "Daughter of the Winds" after the strong gales that can arise off the north coast of Africa.

Its Sicilian name is Pantiddirìa, which gave rise to the present Maltese name Pantellerija.

One of the sesi (burial tombs) on Pantelleria.

The earliest evidence of human activity dates to the Neolithic period distinguished for its use of obsidian tools and construction of stone structures and tombs known locally as "Sese".[7][8][9]

The original population of Pantelleria did not come from Sicily, but were of Iberian or Ibero-Ligurian stock. After a considerable interval, during which the island probably remained uninhabited, the Carthaginians 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 century BC. Their acropolis was the twin hill of San Marco and Santa Teresa, 2 km (1.2 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.

The Romans occupied the island as the Fasti Triumphales record in 255 BC, lost it again the next year, and recovered it in 217 BC. It struck bronze coins, originally with a Punic inscription but changing to Latin by the 1st century BC.[5] Under the empire, it served as a place of banishment for prominent persons and members of the imperial family. The town enjoyed municipal rights.

In AD 700, Arabs conquered the island. In 1123, Roger II of Sicily took the island, and in 1311 an Aragonese fleet under the command of Lluís de Requesens won a considerable victory here. Requesens's family became princes of Pantelleria until 1553, when the Turks captured the island. A naval battle took place near the island in July 1586 when an armed English merchant fleet of five ships managed to repel an attack by eleven Spanish and Maltese galleys.

A Siculo-Arabic dialect similar to Maltese was the vernacular of the island until the late 18th century, when the Romance Sicilian superseded it. The modern Sicilian language in Pantelleria contains many Arabic loanwords, and most of the island's place names are of Semitic origin.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the British considered the possibility of taking over Pantelleria (together with Lampedusa and Linosa) so as to be able to supply Malta, but a Royal Commission stated in an 1812 report that there would be considerable difficulties in this venture.[10]

Pantelleria's capture was regarded as crucial to Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 as planes based on Pantelleria could readily reach Sicily. In Operation 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.

Volcanic rocks in Pantelleria

The island of Pantelleria is located above a drowned continental rift in the Strait 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.[11] Two large Pleistocene calderas 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.[12] The eruption that formed the Cinque Denti caldera produced the distinctive green tuff deposit that covers much of the island, and is found across the Mediterranean, as far away as the island of Lesbos in the Aegean.[13] Holocene eruptions have constructed pumice cones, lava domes, and short, blocky lava flows.[14]

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.[15]

Currently the island is subsiding, and Montagna Grande is slowly sinking. This is thought to be caused by the magma beneath the volcano cooling and degassing.[16] There are numerous hot springs and fumaroles on the island due to an active hydrothermal system. Favara Grande, in the south east of the island, is one of the best examples. The island is releasing a small amount of CO₂ through passive degassing.[17] Total carbon stock in the first 30 cm (12 in) of soil of Pantelleria is about 230,000 tonnes.[18] The island is the type locality for peralkaline rhyolitic rocks, pantellerites.

Typical landscape with vineyards.

Pantelleria is noted for its sweet wines, Moscato di Pantelleria and Moscato Passito di Pantelleria, both made from the local Zibibbo grape.[22] In 2014, the traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the 'vite ad alberello' (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Unesco (see UNESCO - Traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the ‘vite ad alberello’ (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria).

The island is served by Pantelleria Airport,[23] which is served by Alitalia, connecting Trapani and Palermo and other companies in summer, connecting the island with Italian cities such as Milan, Rome, Venice and others. Ferries reach the island from Trapani, and it is near the main east–west route through the Mediterranean Sea.

• 
  Specchio di Venere (Venus' mirror)
• 
  Specchio di Venere (Venus' mirror)
• 
  Port
• 
  Typical white house near the sea
• 
  Arid landscape during summer

• List of islands of Italy
• List of volcanoes in Italy
• Italy–Tunisia Delimitation Agreement

• parconazionalepantelleria.it
• pantelleria.co.uk