There is a little piece of paradise than
many travellers may not be aware of. The Aeolian
Islands (Italian Isole Eolie) are a just such
a place, a
volcanic
archipelago
in the Tyrrhenian Sea
north of Sicily.
It is Shangri-La you need to experience. Many in Europe
and Italy already know about this wonderful place. It's
time for you to make your next dream vacation and the
Aeolian Islands couldn't be a better choice.
The largest island is
Lipari,
and tourism marketing often names the entire archipelago
the Lipari Islands because of the ease of
pronouncing Lipari compared to Aeolian. The other
islands include Vulcano,
Salina,
Stromboli,
Filicudi,
Alicudi,
Panarea
and Basiluzzo.
The town of Lipari has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vulcano
is famous for its fango
(mud) baths.
The
Cnidian settlers
under Pentathlos
arrived at Lipara in 580 BC and settled on the site of
the modern village known as Castello or la Cittade. They
named the islands after the
Greek
keeper of the winds, Aeolus,
whose benevolence was essential. Outside Lipara, on the
road to the necropolis, a sanctuary to
Demeter
and Persephone
has been discovered. In 394 BC the Roman embassy
consisting of Lucius
Valerius,
Lucius Sergius,
and Aulus Manlius
took a golden bowl that was made as a gift to
Apollo,
to Delphi. The diplomats were captured by Liparian
pirates, but instead of being harmed the diplomats and
their offering were protected by the magistrate
Timasitheus
and escorted safely to Delphi, this made for peaceful
relations between the two states.
Lots of History
The islands were the site of the
Battle of the Lipari Islands
in 260 BC between Rome
and Carthage.
Biblical historian Josephus
mentioned a group that is probably related to the
Aeolian islands: "Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, who
were his subjects; they are now the Aeolians." Elisa
refers to the biblical figure
Elishah,
grandson of Japheth,
son of Javan.
In 1544, when
Spain
declared war on France,
the French king Francis I
asked the Ottoman
Sultan
Suleiman
for help. The latter sent a fleet headed by
Khair ad Din
(also known as Barbarossa) who was victorious over the
Spaniards, and managed to retake
Naples
from them. In the course of the battle the Aeolian
Islands were depopulated. Later immigrants from mainland
Italy,
Sicily
and Spain
re-established communities on the archipelago.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
The Aeolian Islands are listed by
UNESCO as
World Heritage Sites.
However inaccuracy, the missing closure of a
pumice
quarry, and the oncoming building of some four harbours
by the shore of the sole town of
Lipari
pose a threat to the islands' place on the list,
according to the Italian UNESCO Commission.
Plenty Of Food & Wine
All sorts of fish delicacies can be
found on the local menus. Special attention must be
given to the swordfish, a typical fish of these waters,
which is caught according to a very ancient and
extremely picturesque "rite". Other specialities are : "maccaruni",
aubergine rolls, sweet and sour rabbit, smoked
ricotta cheese and the aromatic capers (their
flowers are called the 'orchids of the Aeolian Islands")
There is also a selection of excellent, strong and
spiced local wines.