Aeolian Islands

From Free net encyclopedia

The Aeolian Islands (Italian Isole Eolie) are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily. They are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to 200,000 visitors annually.

The largest island is Lipari, and tourism marketing often names the entire archipelago the Lipari Islands because of the ease of pronouncing Lipari compared to Aeolian. The other islands include Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi, and Panarea. The town of Lipari has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vulcano is famous for its fango baths.

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History

The islands were colonized by the Greeks around 580 BC. They named them after the Greek God of Wind Aeolus, who was said to have lived on one of the islands in the chain. They were the site of the Battle of the Lipari Islands in 260 BC between Rome and Carthage. Biblical historian Josephus mentioned a group that is probably related ot the Aeolian islands: "Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, who were his subjects; they are now the Aeolians." Elisa refers to the biblical figure Elishah, grandson of Japheth, son of Javan.

In 1544, when Spain declared war on France, the French king Francois I, asked the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman for help. The latter sent a fleet headed by Khair ad Din (also known as Barbarossa) who was victorious over the Spaniards, and managed to retake Naples from them. In the course the battle, the Aeolian Islands were depopulated. Later immigrants from mainland Italy, Sicily and Spain re-established communities on the archipelago.

The Aeolian Islands have been listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

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