The Egadi Islands are an archipelago located in the western part of Sicily.
The island of Levanzo Stack
The archipelago consists of three main inhabited islands, Favignana, Levanzo e Marettimo and two islets, Maraone e Formica plus a series of rocks and cliffs, and it is situated a few miles off the coast between Trapani and Marsala.
Inhabited during prehistoric times (when it was still attached to the mainland), though never the scene of important historical events (apart from a naval battle that took place in the sea dividing Favignana and Levanzo, between the Romans and Carthaginians), He has always attracted, But, the attention of sailors in the Mediterranean, Marettimo species the pirates who regularly stopped to stock up on water.
The first real appearance of these islands to the forefront of history dating back to the fifteenth century, when they were transformed into "Barony of the tuna" and assigned to Giovanni de Karissima.
It was thanks to tuna fishing that the three islands, and especially Favignana, reached within a few decades a real prosperity, all of whom enjoyed, last fisherman to entrepreneurs.
These were first Ligurian – who bought the archipelago in the seventeenth century – and then the Florio, the powerful family Palermo, whose palace, built by architect Almeyda, you can still see in Favignana.
Thanks to the Florio the "slaughter", processing and canning of tuna received new impetus. Even today this activity marks an asset of the economy of the islands that have become ideal place to spend a holiday in the environment and biodiversity.
The Marine Protected Area (AMP) Egadi Islands, with an extension of 53.992 ha, It is the largest marine reserve in the Mediterranean.
From the site of the AMP: www.ampisoleegadi.it
established in 1991, from 2001 it is run, on behalf of the Ministry, by the City of Favignana. This is an area with very high valence from a naturalistic point of view: the AMP includes the prairie of Posidonia oceanica largest and best preserved of the Mediterranean (circa 7.700 ha). Posidonia, internationally protected habitat, It is considered the lungs of the Mediterranean and plays a crucial role in the marine ecosystem balance: in addition to producing oxygen and absorb CO2, It helps to mitigate coastal erosion through the formation of the banquette, structures produced by the stranding of dead leaves because of storms; Furthermore, It hosts the youth of hundreds of species of organisms, constituting a real nest submarine asylum. In the depths abound in coral environments and precoralligeno and sidewalks vermetids, delicate environments, born from overbuilding of clam shells Dendropoma petraeum, in association with calcareous algae, that constitute at water formations, Along the coast. Numerous semi submersible and submerged caves.
Egad Islands, thanks to this great diversity of habitats, is an area with very high biodiversity: among the endangered animal, It has recently documented the presence of very rare monk seal, flagship species of the Mediterranean, already presumed extinct in Italy; also present the sea turtle Caretta caretta, various species of cetaceans (tursiopi, stenelle and capodogli), some species of sharks and an important colony Bird of storms, seabird endemic to the Mediterranean. The fish fauna is rich and varied. We quote, among the most famous species, grouper, the seabed grouper, croaker, l’ombrina, the sparidae, including the snapper and bream pharaoh, and amberjack.
In the AMP count 76 Diving sites, surface (but with exceptionally valuable attendance), or deep, cave, or underwater archaeological sites (Egadi were the scene of the famous sea battle between the Romans and Carthaginians, in an area located north-west of Levanzo). Very practiced are snorkeling and guided sea-watching. Many marine protected underwater routes are described in detail on the website http://egadi.santateresa.enea.it.
The Marine Protected Area Egadi Islands is divided into four zones (A, B, C e D) at a different level of protection and with different access possibilities and limitations in usability.
Favignana Island, the main Aegadian, administrative headquarters of the City, is about 7 km from the western coast of Sicily, between Trapani and Marsala, in front of the Stagnone Islands, in addition to being the seat of the municipality is the one that has the largest number of residents, or 4.230 including other inhabited islands that administratively belong to the same common.
Levanzo, it is the smallest of the Egadi. It consists of white limestone rocks which have numerous caves. The greek island Phorbantia name was probably due to the abundant amount of grass island. It has a unique archaeological resource in the world, the Cave of the Genovese, to visit.
Marettimo, It is the westernmost of the Egadi and there is the eponymous village. E’ even the most mountainous and for this reason is a destination for hikers. In the caves there is the Monk Seal.
Island Maraone, It is a small piece of land, or rather a big long narrow shape rock. You can also see during the crossing by hydrofoil or ferry. It is little more than long 600 m and its maximum width not exceeding the 80 m.
Isola Formica, It is a small piece of land, almost a big rock, which is located between the island of Levanzo and the coast of Trapani. It was inhabited over the centuries by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Italics, Romans, Arab, Normans.
Stagnone Islands, named by “Stagnone” a lagoon, the largest of Sicily, characterized by shallow waters (1-2 m and often no more than 50 cm) and between the four islands of San Pantaleo (Mozia), Big Island, Schola e Santa Maria, in the province of Trapani.
Island Galera, Galeotta Island and Island Previto They are just off the south coast of Favignana and Faraglione is a small island almost attached to Levanzo coast and also within swimming.
Discover all the islands, islets and rocks… browsing this site !
