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Lipari (Sicilian:
Lìpari, Latin:
Lipara, ancient
Greek: Meligunis) is the largest of the eight Aeolian
Islands in the Tyrrhenian
Sea off the north coast of Sicily,
and the name of the island's main town. It has a permanent
population of about 11,000, although during the May-September
tourist season its population may reach up to 20,000.
Lipari is the largest of a chain of eight islands in a volcanic
archipelago that straddles the gap between Vesuvius
and Etna.
The island has a total surface area of 37.6 km² and is
24 nautical miles (44 km) from Sicily. Besides the main
town, most of the year-round population resides in one of the four
main villages: Pianoconte
is almost due west across the island, Quattropani
in the northwest, Acquacalda
along the northern coast, and Canneto
is on the eastern shore north of Lipari town.
Ancient history
Lipari's position has made the harbor of strategic importance.
In Neolithic times Lipari was, with Sardinia,
one of the few centers of the commerce of obsidian, a hard black
volcanic glass prized by Neolithic peoples for the sharp cutting
edge it could produce. Lipari's history is rich in incidents as is
witnessed by the recent retrievals of several necropolis
and other archaeological treasures. Man seems to have inhabited
the island already in 5,000 BC, though a local legend gives the eponymous
name "Liparus" to the leader of a people coming from Campania.
Its continuous occupation may have been interrupted violently when
the late 9th century Ausonian
civilisation site was burned and apparently not rebuilt. Many
household objects have been retrieved from the charred stratum.
Colonists from Cnidia
under Pentathlos arrived at Lipara in 580 BC and settled on the
site of the village now known as Castello or la Cittade. The
colony successfully fought the Etruscans
for control of the Tyrrhenian. Allied with Syracuse at the time of
the fateful intervention of Athens in the west in 427, Lipara
withstood the assault of Athenians and their allies. Carthaginian
forces succeeded in holding the site briefly during their
struggles with Dionysios
I, tyrant of Syracuse, in 394, but once they were gone the polis
entered a three-way alliance which included Dionysios' new colony
at Tyndaris. Lipara prospered, but in 304 Agathokles took the town
by treachery and is said to have lost pillage from it in a storm
at sea. Many objects recovered from wrecks of antiquity are now in
the Aeolian Museum at Lipari. Lipara became a Carthaginian naval
base during the first Punic
War, but fell to Roman forces in 252-251 BC, and again to
Agrippa in Octavian's campaign against Pompey. Under the Roman
Empire, it was a place of retreat, baths (the hydrothermic waters
are still used as a spa) and exile.
History from the Middle Ages to
the present day
Lipari was probably an episcopal see from the 3rd century, (first
bishop was St. Agatone) and at least from the 6th century the
precious relics of St.
Bartholomew could be admired in its cathedral.
In the 9th century, Sicily was conquered by the Arabs,
and soon Saracen pirates
began to raid across the Tyrrhenian
Sea, with dramatic effects for Lipari. In 839 the Saracens
slaughtered much of the population, the relics of St. Bartholomew
were moved to Benevento,
and Lipari was eventually almost totally abandoned. The Normans
conquered the Arabs throughout Sicily between 1060 and 1090, and
repopulated the island once their rule was secure. The Lipari
episcopal seat was reinstated in 1131.
Though still plagued by pirate raids, the island was
continually populated from this point onward. Rule of the island
was passed from the Normans to the Hohenstaufen
Kings, followed by the Angevins,
and then the Aragonese,
until Carlos
I, the Aragonese King became the Spanish
King, and then quickly was crowned Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1544, Ariadeno
Barbarossa ransacked Lipari and deported the entire population.
Charles V then had his Spanish subjects repopulate the island and
build the massive city walls atop the walls of the ancient Greek acropolis
in 1556.
The walls created a mighty fortress which still stands today.
The acropolis, high above the main town, was a safe haven for the
populace in the event of a raid. While these walls protected the
main town, it was not safe to live on the rest of the island until
Mediterranean piracy was largely eradicated, which did not truly end
until the 19th century.
During Fascism,
Lipari Island was a destination for the confinement
of members of the political opposition: among them, Emilio
Lussu, Carlo
Rosselli, Giuseppe
Ghetti.
An interesting museum has recently been created to collect a
relevant part of local archaeological retrievals; its disparate
sections relating to the human history of the entire Aeolian
Islands from prehistoric to classical times, also cover vulcanology,
marine history, and the paleontology
of the western Mediterranean.
Vulcano (Sicilian:
Vurcanu) is a small volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian
Sea , about 25 km north of Sicily
and the southernmost of the eight Aeolian
Islands. It is 21 square kilometers in area, rises to 499
meters, and contains several volcanic centers, including one of
four active non-submarine volcanoes in Italy.
History
The Greek
wind god Aeolus
was said to have lived on this island, then called Hierà.
The name for the entire Aeolian Island chain descended from the
mythical residence of Aeolus. The Roman
name for the island Vulcano has contributed the word for volcano
in most modern European
languages. The Romans used the island mainly for raw
materials, harvesting wood
and mining
alum
and sulfur.
This was the principal activity on the island until the end of
the 19th Century.
When the Bourbon
rule collapsed in 1860 (see Francis
II of the Two Sicilies) a British man named James
Stevenson bought the northern part of the island, built a villa,
reopened the local mines and planted vineyards
for grapes
that would later be used to make Malvasia
wine.
Stevenson lived on Vulcano until the last major eruption on the
island, in 1888. The eruption lasted the better part of two
years, by which time Stevenson had sold all of his property to
the local populace, and never returned to the island. The villa
is still intact.
Currently, around 470 people live on the island, mainly
deriving their income from tourism. It is a few minutes hydrofoil
ride from Lipari
and has several hotels and cafes, the important attractions
being the beaches, hot springs and sulfur mud baths.
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From Wikipedia
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