Tremiti Islands
Encyclopedia
The Isole Tremiti are an archipelago
in the Adriatic Sea
, north of the Gargano Peninsula
. They constitute a comune
of Italy
's Province of Foggia
and form part of the Gargano national park
. The name of the islands relates to their seismic hazard
, with a history of earthquake
s in the area: the source word tremolanti means "tremor
s".
The islands were used for the internment
of political prisoner
s during Benito Mussolini
's Fascist
regime. This was nothing new: two millennia earlier Augustus
had exiled his granddaughter Julia the Younger
to one of these islands (then named Trimerus).
The islands are now an important tourist attraction because of the clear waters surrounding them.
had his nephew Julia the Younger
transferred here, where she died after twenty years. In the Middle Ages the archipelago was ruled by the Abbey of Santa Maria a Mare ("Holy Mary on the Sea") at San Nicola island, apparently founded here in the 9th century by Benedictine
monks from Montecassino. In the 13th century the abbey had gained its autonomy from the father monastery, and owned lands from the Biferno
to Trani
in the Apulian mainland. After an alleged period of moral decadence, in 1237 the Benedictines were replaced by the Cistercian order. In 1334 the abbey was sacked by Dalmatian pirates from Omiš
.
In 1412 the Lateran Canons
took the ownership, and restored the abbey with cisterns and fortification which withstood the assault of Ottoman ships in 1567. The abbey was suppressed in 1783 by King Ferdinand IV of Naples, who instituted here a penal colony
. During the Napoleonic age
the islands were a stronghold of Joachim Murat
's supporters, who resisted in the fortress to a British naval fleet in 1809. In 1843, to repopulate the islands, King Ferdinand II of Two Sicilies moved here numerous people from Naples
' slums, who mostly became fishermen.
In 1911 about 1,300 Libya
ns that opposed colonial Italian rule were confined to Tremiti. After one year, around one-third of these people had died, mainly from typhus
. During the Fascist era, the archipelago continued to perform its function of confinement, detaining, among others, Amerigo Dumini
and future president of the Republic Sandro Pertini.
Mussolini had hundreds of homosexuals deported to San Domino. No law prohibited homosexuality at the time, and Mussolini also denied its existence, saying that, "In Italy there are only real men". However, suspected or reported homosexuals were rounded up and deported. The conditions on the island were very difficult. This crime has never been recognized by Italy.
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
, north of the Gargano Peninsula
Monte Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
. They constitute a comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's Province of Foggia
Province of Foggia
The Province of Foggia is a province in the Apulia region of Italy.This province is also known as Capitanata, originally Catapanata, because during the Middle Ages it was governed by a catapan, as part of the Catapanate of Italy...
and form part of the Gargano national park
Gargano National Park
The Gargano National Park is a national park in the province of Foggia, southern Italy. Aside from the Mount Gargano promontory from which it takes its name, it includes also the Tremiti Islands archipelago and the Foresta Umbra, a large wood protected area established in 1977....
. The name of the islands relates to their seismic hazard
Seismic hazard
Seismic hazard refers to the study of expected earthquake ground motions at the earth's surface, and its likely effects on existing natural conditions and man-made structures for public safety considerations; the results of such studies are published as seismic hazard maps, which identify the...
, with a history of earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s in the area: the source word tremolanti means "tremor
Tremor
A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving to-and-fro movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, eyes, face, head, vocal folds, trunk, and legs. Most tremors occur in the...
s".
The islands were used for the internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
of political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s during Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
regime. This was nothing new: two millennia earlier Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
had exiled his granddaughter Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
to one of these islands (then named Trimerus).
The islands are now an important tourist attraction because of the clear waters surrounding them.
Islands
- San Domino is the most developed island for tourism and has the only sand beachBeachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
in the archipelago. - San Nicola is where most of the population resides. It is the site of a monastery where a monk named Nicolò was buried. Legend has it that every time someone tried to move his corpse off the island, a violent storm would break out, preventing navigation around the island.
- Capraia (or Capperaia) is deserted.
- Cretaccio is a large block of clay and thus uninhabited.
- Pianosa is a small, uninhabited island. Its maximum elevation is 15 meters. Sometimes, during storms, the waves cover it.
History
Inhabited since late Iron Age times (4th-3rd centuries BC), the Tremiti Island have been a confinement place since ancient times. Roman emperor AugustusAugustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
had his nephew Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
transferred here, where she died after twenty years. In the Middle Ages the archipelago was ruled by the Abbey of Santa Maria a Mare ("Holy Mary on the Sea") at San Nicola island, apparently founded here in the 9th century by Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks from Montecassino. In the 13th century the abbey had gained its autonomy from the father monastery, and owned lands from the Biferno
Biferno
The Biferno is a river of Molise, in southern Italy. Its source is in the comune of Bojano and during the first few kilometres of its course it receives the waters of numerous streams which flow from the Matese mountains...
to Trani
Trani
Trani is a seaport of Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, in the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , and 40 km by railway West-Northwest of Bari.- History :...
in the Apulian mainland. After an alleged period of moral decadence, in 1237 the Benedictines were replaced by the Cistercian order. In 1334 the abbey was sacked by Dalmatian pirates from Omiš
Omiš
Omiš is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is where the emerald-green Cetina River meets the Adriatic Sea...
.
In 1412 the Lateran Canons
Canons Regular of the Lateran
The Canons Regular of the Lateran , formally titled Canons Regular of St. Augustine of the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior at the Lateran is an international religious order of priests and Brothers in the Catholic Church....
took the ownership, and restored the abbey with cisterns and fortification which withstood the assault of Ottoman ships in 1567. The abbey was suppressed in 1783 by King Ferdinand IV of Naples, who instituted here a penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
. During the Napoleonic age
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
the islands were a stronghold of Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
's supporters, who resisted in the fortress to a British naval fleet in 1809. In 1843, to repopulate the islands, King Ferdinand II of Two Sicilies moved here numerous people from Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
' slums, who mostly became fishermen.
In 1911 about 1,300 Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
ns that opposed colonial Italian rule were confined to Tremiti. After one year, around one-third of these people had died, mainly from typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
. During the Fascist era, the archipelago continued to perform its function of confinement, detaining, among others, Amerigo Dumini
Amerigo Dumini
Amerigo Dumini was an American-born Italian fascist activist who led the group responsible for the 1924 assassination of United Socialist Party leader Giacomo Matteotti.-Biography:Born in St...
and future president of the Republic Sandro Pertini.
Mussolini had hundreds of homosexuals deported to San Domino. No law prohibited homosexuality at the time, and Mussolini also denied its existence, saying that, "In Italy there are only real men". However, suspected or reported homosexuals were rounded up and deported. The conditions on the island were very difficult. This crime has never been recognized by Italy.