Aeolian Islands - Salina
SALINA - (Surface area 26.8 Km2):
The island is divided into the three districts of Santa Marina, Leni and Malfa. The hydrofoils and ferries dock at the port of Santa Marina and on the other side of the island at Rinella. A main road connects Lingua, Santa Marina, Malfa and Pollara and a side road takes you between the two volcanoes to Leni and Rinella. At Salina there is an excellent minibus service connecting all of the districts, even in the late evening.
Salina was known in ancient times as Didyme (twin), a name deriving from its shape, two mountains divided by a saddle. Its modern-day name derives from a coastal pond that was once used for producing salt. It is situated along the promontory of Punta di Lingua and covers a surface area of about two hectares and is just a few metres deep. The ridges surroinding it were formed by the strong sea currents crossing the channel between Salina and Lipari. The island has an almost trapezoid shape and its coastline runs for a total length of 24 kilometres. Salina is the second largest island in the archipelago and has the second largest number of inhabitants. It is also the island with the richest earth. From an administrative point of view, the island of Salina is divided into the three municipalities of Santa Marina Salina, Malfa and Leni, whereas all of the other islands – Lipari, Vulcano, Stromboli, Alicudi, Filicudi and Panarea form part of the municipality of Lipari. The island is composed of two mountain groups: to the east, Monte Fossa delle Felci and Monte Rivi are joined by a ridge; to the west, Monte dei Porri, joined by a saddle from which the Gavite Valley runs north towards Malfa and the Vallonazzo Valley runs south towards Rinella. In about the middle of these, the north-south depression of Valdichiesa separates the two highland areas. The island is composed of three main geological formations- two dating from the Middle Pleistocene period and one from the Wurmian period. A large, ridgeless crater on the eastern coast, whose summit is Monte dei Rivi, constitutes the first of these formations; Monte Fossa delle Felci was formed later by powerful lava effusion and erupted débris and the settling of scoriae and breccia, which cover most of the southern side of Monte dei Rivi. This represents the second formation. The crater of Monte Fossa delle Felci has a diameter of 500 metres and, even though it is partly eroded, it is one of the most evident forms in the archipelago. The third formation, from the Wurmian period, is composed of the volcanic cone of Monte dei Porri. A wide crater, which is only partly preserved, gapes open on the western side; the bottom of this forms a platform inclining from 50 to 100 metres, which is where Pollara is located.
The island is composed of six volcanoes. The oldest ones can be located at Pizzo di Corvo , Monte Rivi and close to Capo Faro, although these are barely recognisable from a morphological point of view, while the volcano-layer of Monte Fossa delle Felci and Monte dei Porri are almost perfectly preserved. Fossa delle Felci reaches an altitude of 962 metres above sea-level. The most recent eruption occurred on the western part of the island about 13,000 years ago and formed the semi-circular crater of Pollara; its activity was mainly explosive and produced large pumice deposits. Traces of endogenic activity can be found in various parts of the island On Monte Rivi (854 m.), there is ancient volcanic edifice, which has all but collapsed, of andesite and basalt lava. On the typically cone- shaped Fossa delle Felci (at an altitude of 962 metres, the highest point in the Aeolian archipelago) there is crater that is more recent than the one described above. The remains of these two craters are in the eastern part of the island, while in the western part ther are actually three volcanoes: Pizzo del Corvo, Monte dei Porri and the crater of Pollara, which has characteristic white pumice. All that remains of the endogenic activities are some post-volcanic phenomena called “gurgling” and a thermal spring at Pertuso. The gurgling phenomena are at Rinella and are basically caused by the emission of underwater gas (hydrogen sulphate) and vapours. When this phenomenon is at its most active it can lift the sea-bed.
The mountainsides of the island are covered with ferns, poplars, chestnut trees and typical Mediterranean maquis vegetation composed mainly of gorse, myrtle and wild strawberry trees. The middle and lower areas are often terraced and covered with caper bushes and prickly pear trees, as well as a variety of orchards, olive groves and vineyards, Among the local produce, the red wine deserves a special mention because of its heady bouquet and high alcohol content. Above all, there is Malvasia, a famous white wine that is only produced on Salina in the Aeolian Islands. Malvasia is golden in colour and has an intense, delicately sweet bouquet. The capers grown locally are mainly destined for export. Unfortunately, many cultivable areas have been abandoned because of the lack of manpower caused by the emigration of many islanders, mainly to Australia (a phenomenon that has affected all of the islands in the archipelago). A boat trip around the island offers many unforgettable sights – the high, solemn cliffs, the characteristic diving platforms, the charming beaches and the villages with their typical white houses along the seafront or on the hillsides. The typical style of the island’s houses has not undergone great changes. They are mostly ground-floor buildings with terraced roofs and bowers. You will only find houses with an upper floor in the towns. During the summer season, Salina serves as a departure-point for excursions to the other island. On the whole, the island is very picturesque and has an efficient road system that makes it easy to visit its various beauty spots.
Of particular interest are the coastal roads connecting Santa Marina Salina, the largest town on the island, with Lingua to the south and Malfa to the north-west. Also of interest from a panoramic point of view is the road through the vineyards of the Vallonazzo (a saddle located at an altitude of 285 metres) and Valle dei Giovi. This road connects the harbour of Rinella with Leni and Malfa. If you take this road, you will come to the famous sanctuary of the Madonna del Terzito, which was founded in 1630 and has always attracted pilgrims. The sea around the islands is teeming with fish. Species that are easily caught in these waters include horse-mackerels, anchovies, sardines, Pesantoni, saddled bream and Ope, as well as swordfish. The remarkable natural environment of the Fossa delle felci and Monte Porri mountains is a protected nature reserve created in order to allow the flora and fauna to maintain a harmonic balance. The island of Salina has also been of great importance since Neolithic times. The exceptional remains of a dwelling from the Castellaro Vecchio culture of Lipari have been discovered in the district of Rinella, together with some fragments of pottery. Two Bronze Age settlements have also been found on the eastern coast of the island. The one at Serra dei Cianfi dates back to the Capo Graziano period (between the nineteenth and fifteenth centuries BC) and the early Milazzo period (after 1400 BC).
The other is in a much less accessible position but was suitable for defending Portella, which lies along the Santa Marina-Malfa road. This settlement flourished in the Milazzo period but was violently destroyed, probably around 1270 BC (materials from the dig are exhibited in the Aeolian Museum on Lipari). Traces of a settlement dating from the sixth-fifth century BC can be seen at Serro dell’Acqua. A Greek settlement from the fourth century BC through to the times of Imperial Rome once lay on the modern-day site of the small town of Santa Marina. A number of tombs from this era have been discovered further inland. Several traces of Greek and Roman culture have been found here and there on the island. At the far eastern end of the island of Salina, in the small lake at Punta Lingua (a marshy area once used for extracting salt, from which the island takes its name), there are the ruins of some old buildings that were still visible above ground up until the eighteenth century. They are Roman walls of the opus reticolatum style typical of constructions from the first-second century AD: they belonged to a building from the Imperial Roman era that stood near the edge of the old salt-mine and probably extended back as far as the foot of the mountain slope. Although the highest part of the walls has been destroyed during the past two centuries, the underground part is still in good condition and is one of the most conspicuous pieces of evidence of Roman building. There are three art galleries on Salina: at Leni, Malfa and Santa Marina. The one at Santa Marina, in the public library, also comprises a municipal museum of ethno-anthropology. The material culture of the people of Salina reflects more clearly than that of the other islands the authentic bond between a rural people and their land. The cultivation of grapes, olives and capers are basically a rite. The only true Malvasia wine of the Aeolian Islands is produced here; besides being exported capers are an ingredient of a great many local dishes. There is even an annual caper festival held on Salina during the first weekend of une. By contrast, the first week of October is Aeolian Food and Drink week. There has also been a local revival of the production of superior-quality low-acid olive oil.
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