Pantelleria
Pantelleria, or
Pantalaria, ancient
Cossyra, is an
island and a commune in the
Strait of Sicily in the
Mediterranean Sea, 100 km (62 mi) southwest of the south-western extremity of
Sicily, and 70 km (43 mi) E of the
African coast, belonging to the Sicilian
province of Trapani.
The island is entirely of
volcanic origin, and about 83 km² (45 mi²) in area; the highest point, an extinct
crater, is 836 m (2,743 ft) above sea-level. Hot mineral springs and ebullitions of steam still testify to the presence of volcanic activity. The island is fertile, but lacks fresh water. The principal town (pop. about 3000) is on the north-west, upon the only harbour (only fit for small steamers), which is fortified. There is also a penal colony here. The island can be reached by ferries and hydrofoils from
Trapani, and lies close to the main route from east to west through the Mediterranean.
The originary population of Pantelleria came from Africa, not from Sicily, and was 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) probably about the beginning of the
7th century BC, occupying as their
acropolis the twin hill of San Marco and Sta. Teresa, 2 km (1 mi) south of the town of Pantelleria, where there are considerable remains of walls in rectangular blocks of masonry, and also of a number of cisterns.
Punic tombs have also 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. 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
700 the Christian population was annihilated by the
Arabs, from whom the island was taken in
1123 by
Roger of Sicily. In
1311 a Spanish fleet, under the command of
Requesens, won a considerable victory here, and his family became princes of Pantelleria until
1553, when the town was sacked by the Turks.
Its capture was regarded as crucial to the Allied success in invading
Sicily in 1943 due to the fact that it would allow more planes to be based in range of the larger island. Pantelleria was heavily bombarded in the days before the scheduled invasion by bombers and warships, and in the end the garrison surrendered as the landing troops were approaching. It then indeed played a part as a vital base for Allied aircraft during
Operation Husky. The
United States Army Air Forces had the plan of making the capture of this island be a test case for
air power, so their intention was to bombard it into submission entirely from the air. British air and sea forces observed that such propaganda was overrated.
On the west coast, 3 km south-east of the harbour, a neolithic village was situated, with a rampart of small blocks of obsidian, about 7.5 m high, 10 m wide at the base, and 5 m at the top, upon the undefended eastern side: within it remains of huts were found, with pottery, tools of obsidian, etc. The objects discovered are in the museum at
Syracuse.
To the south-east, in the district known as the Cunelie, are a large number of tombs, known as
sesi, similar in character to the
nuraghe of
Sardinia, though of smaller size, consisting 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 by 20 m, but most of the sesi have a diameter of only 6 to 7.5 m. The identical character of the pottery found in the sesi with that found in the prehistoric village proves that the former are the tombs of the inhabitants of the latter.
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