Maddalena archipelago
Encyclopedia
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and north-eastern Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, 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...
. It consists of seven main islands and numerous other small islets.
Geography
The largest island is Isola MaddalenaLa Maddalena
La Maddalena is a town and comune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio, Italy.-The town:...
, on which sits the archipelago's largest town, La Maddalena
La Maddalena
La Maddalena is a town and comune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio, Italy.-The town:...
. The other six islands, in order of size, are: Caprera
Caprera
Caprera is a small island off the coast of Sardinia, Italy, located in the Maddalena archipelago.In the area of La Maddalena island in the Strait of Bonifacio, it is a tourist destination and is famous as the place to which Giuseppe Garibaldi retired .This island has been declared a natural reserve...
, Spargi, Santo Stefano, Santa Maria, Budelli
Budelli
Budelli is an island in the Maddalena archipelago, near the strait of Bonifacio in northern Sardinia, Italy. It is part of the La Maddalena National Park....
and Razzoli. Only Maddalena, Caprera and S. Stefano are inhabited.
Lying adjacent to the famous tourist resort of the Costa Smeralda
Costa Smeralda
The Costa Smeralda is a coastal area and tourist destination in northern Sardinia, 55 km long and covering more than 30 km². With white sand beaches, a golf club, private jet and helicopter service, and hotels costing up to US$2,000 - 3,000 per night in the peak season, the area has...
, Maddalena shares the same crystal clear waters and wind blown granite coastlines but also remains a haven for wildlife. It is a designated National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, the Parco Nazionale Arcipelago di La Maddalena. It is a very popular tourist destination, especially among boaters. In 2006 it was placed on the Tentative list for consideration as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
History
The islands have been inhabited since prehistoric times. They were known by the Romans as Cunicularia and were a busy shipping area during the second and 1st century BC. The Maddalenas have always held strategic value and were first the object of a dispute between the maritime republics of PisaRepublic of Pisa
The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...
and Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
in the 13th century and subsequently were abandoned for a long period before being colonised again by Corsican shepherds and by the first Sardinian settlements in the 16th century. Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, Admiral Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
and particularly Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
all have historical links with the area.
Present day
S. Stefano island housed a NATO naval base, closed in 2008, at which US nuclear submarines were housed. This was the basis of some controversy in 2003 when the USS Hartford ran agroundUSS Hartford grounding
On 25 October, 2003, the , a United States Navy nuclear powered Los Angeles-class submarine ran aground while performing routine maneuvers in the harbour of La Maddalena, Sardinia. Approximately 9 million dollars worth of damage were done to the submarine, and it was out of service for seven months...
while on maneuvers in the area.
Administratively the islands now lie within the province of Olbia-Tempio
Province of Olbia-Tempio
Olbia-Tempio is the name of a province in the autonomous region of Sardinia, Italy.The territory includes the historical region of Gallura , the northeastern coast of Sardinia , and the island of La Maddalena ....
, having moved from the province of Sassari
Province of Sassari
The Province of Sassari is a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia in Italy. Its capital is the city of Sassari.-Geography:It has an area of 4,282 km², and a total population of 322,326 . There are 66 municipalities in the province, the largest of which are Sassari The...
in 2005. The main access into and out of the archipelago is via the frequent car ferries from nearby Palau on Sardinia that run into La Maddalena. There are roads only on Maddalena and Caprera.