La Maddalena Archipelago – Italy – Sardinia
Nestled in the Tyrrhenian Sea, La Maddalena Archipelago comprises a group of islands scattered from Northern Sardinia toSouthern Corsica, in the middle of the Bonifacio strait. Wild, sunny and breezy, they cover an area ideal for sailing and nature observation with their countless nature trails, hidden coves and breathtaking views. The area is home to dolphins, cetaceans and a dazzling sea life constantly monitored by the scientists of the Archipelagos National Park.
La Maddalena, the biggest of the islands and the only one inhabited, has provided shelter to sailors crossing the stormyBonifacioStraitsince time immemorial. For about two centuries a relevant military centre, the archipelago is dotted by the signs of its more recent history: still the old fortresses stand out above solitary and wild coves; landing place for odd adventurers and romantic figures, take the Admirals who whished to establish here the first unit of the Marina Sarda, it boasts a memorable victory over Napoleon who was overrun and put to flight by a thin group of local fighters and thus, forced to give up his ambition to seize the island.
Take also the English travellers, Admiral Horace Nelson above all, who, while chasing the French fleet led by Villeneuve, temporarily shielded in the port of Toulon, waited onboard the ship Victory in the harbour of Mezzo Schifo also know as Agincourt Bay – , between Palau andLa Maddalena, with a fleet of 20 ships. He was stationed in the worlds most beautiful harbour from November 1st, 1803 to January 19th, 1805, and died a few months later, during the battle of Trafalgar and the French defeat.
Or the romantic and reckless figure of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Hero of Two Worlds, who after years of revolutionary battles across the world, choose to spend the rest of his life in his beloved Island of Caprera. His house, turned into a small Museum, and his grave attract people from all over the world.
The intense and warm colours of the Mediterranean bush distend their mantle over these islands; sheer waters turn their shades from turquoise to opal green, becoming cobalt blue as they enter deep waters. This fairytale landscape is broken, upset at times, by the strange and massive formations of granite, eroded by time and wind, by wind and time.
In the crude and distant solitude of these places, one feels as he has just stepped out of history and into the intimate immensity of nature. The tormented rocks, the secluded beaches filled with sunlight and silence, the scents of shrubs and brushwood, the slow flapping of the sea backwash and the mournful seagull cries: they are the scents, the colours and the voices of ever, echoes of a time long gone.
Raging winds and unending meteoric changes carved a marvellous stone bestiary which is weaved on the cliffs and the bays of this extraordinary archipelago: obscure monsters, pre-human titans rising out of arid brinks, reiterated in the shady ridges and in the open sea.
Sometimes, dawn rises a misty curtain and the island disappears, between the sea and the sky. The same happened, at times, to its history: mysterious for centuries, dispersed by the wind, made of unuttered narrations and unseen beauty. Yet something from the past has found its way to the present, penetrating the peoples character and features, the traditions, the fishermens tales.
Visit this endless stretches of coastline to discover different leisure opportunities, savour the slow-paced lifestyle and the scented and colourful food specialties or, simply sit on shore and contemplate the sea.
The sea, secret exaltation of light and colours. Light, dark, deep blues suggesting the vastness of sky and ocean.
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