Work on the history of Lampedusa since 1700 to the present day

A new era for Lampedusa dates back to around 1700. In fact, the island had been uninhabited for years and then a favorite of pirates for the refreshment and the supply becomes inhabited. The first inhabitants, around 1712, is a curious character, a certain "Father Clement", a priest of French origin, who lived and died there as a hermit, lived in a cave in the valley of Cala Madonna and cultivated a small garden and a vineyard.

The following years saw priests and settlers still this time Maltese origin.


Also from the book "A Brief History of Lampedusa" by A. Taranto:

The idea of this wild and remote desert island, the border between the Christian and the pagan, had very fascinated the French if, in the middle of 1700, the Encyclopedia of Denis Diderot wrote:


"Ah, my friends, if we were finally in Lampedusa, who founded a small community of people happy in the sea, away from the earth! The deserted island of Lampedusa is the Sea of Africa, located more or less midway between the coast of Tunis and the island of Malta.It's a rich fisheries, is covered with wild olive trees, the land is fertile, wheat and vines take root ...".

In the years following the plague arrived in Lampedusa, brought by Libya. Some tombstones are still witnessing:

In 1860, after the expedition of Garibaldi in Sicily, Lampedusa was also united to the Kingdom of Italy.

Established the National Gurd was appointed a delegate and an extraordinary special administrative committee.

In 1872 the government system in Lampedusa convicted of a penal colony to house arrest.

During the Second World War, again for its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean Lampedusa was fortified with various military installations that still can be seen especially along the coastline.

The year marked a turning point in the recent history of Lampedusa was definitely 1986 when the Libyan Colonel Gaddafi Mohammar, in retaliation for the bombing of Tripoli by the Americans, fired two missile "shield" against the American target close: the basis Loran Lampedusa.

The missiles missed the target, you then said that perhaps were never launched, but still had an incredible effect. Lampedusa leaped to the headlines, was the first act of war against a European country since the Second World War. Until shortly before the Italians did not even know where he was Lampedusa is now talked of nothing else and television brought images of the island each day, interviews, reportages.

For the Italians was a discovery: thousands of people poured into the island and summer tourism began to take a different address.

In 1996 he was institued a Nature Reserve Lampedusa aimed at protecting and conserving the natural environment and species of animals and plants threatened with extinction.


Thanks to Nino Taranto that allowed us to bring in the pages
site www.bluebab.it parts of his book "A Brief History of Lampedusa"
available at the Lampedusa Art Gallery.
All rights in the photographic material and the book
are reserved.

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