Alicudi is the westernmost of the eight islands that make up the
Aeolian archipelagoThe Aeolian Islands or Lipari Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, named after the demigod of the winds Aeolus. The locals residing on the islands are known as Eolian. They are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to 200,000 visitors...
, a volcanic island chain north of
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
. The island is about 40 km west of
LipariLipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the north coast of Sicily, and the name of the island's main town...
, has a total area of 5.2 km², and is roughly circular-shaped. It is located at .
History
The island was formed by the long-extinct
Montagnola volcano3. Conduit
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
15...
, roughly 150,000 years ago. It has been suggested that the last evolutive act of the island took place only 28,000 years ago.
The island was first populated as long ago as
17th century BCThe 17th century BC is a century which lasted from 1700 BC to 1601 BC.-Events:* c. 1700 BC: The last species of mammoth became extinct on Wrangel Island.* c. 1700 BC: Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture...
, as some archaeological evidence from this period has been found.
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
ceramic fragments, dating from many centuries later, can be found on the eastern coast of the island.
The modern name of "Alicudi" is a corruption of the island's ancient Greek name of
Ericusa (island of Erica), derived from the plant known as the
EricaErica , the heaths or heathers, is a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....
, more commonly known as heather, which still grows on the island’s slopes. For many centuries, Alicudi was the target of frequent incursions by pirates. Consequently, the island’s population was forced to find shelter in small houses constructed on high terraces, and also meant that simple
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
and cultivation of the
peachThe peach is known as a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible juicy fruit also called a peach. It is a deciduous tree growing to 4–10 m tall, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae...
were the foundations of the modest island economy.
Demography
Today there are around 120 inhabitants, who mostly live off
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
or the small agriculture of the island. There is only one restaurant on the island, and the menu depends greatly on what fish the local fishermen have caught, or what food supplies the
hydrofoilA hydrofoil is a winglike structure or foil, attached to the hull of a boat that raises all or part of the hull out of the water when the boat is moving forward, thus reducing drag....
brings.
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