Sardinia along its coastline has a lot of archipelagos and sea parks of rare beauty. We suggest a visit to the main ones such as La Maddalena, Asinara and Tavolara.
La Maddalena is an archipelago placed in north-eastern Sardinia overlooking the small town of Palau. It includes seven main islands named La Maddalena, Caprera, Santo Stefano, Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria and Razzoli. It is easy reach La Maddalena by a short ferry trip from the Palau harbour.
La Maddalena municipality, with a little more than 11.000 inhabitants, is characterized for the nice historic downtown dated back in the 18th century. It is twinned with the French cities of Ajaccio and Nice. La Maddalena has cultural contaminations with the close island of Corsica especially in the local dialect. It has hosted for many years an American military base now totally dismantled and probably for that reason it preserves still wild areas.
The island of Caprera, in the same archipelago, has been for long time the residence of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian hero of the reunification, that built in this islet his home never abandoned until the last days of his life. Garibaldi home is now an interesting museum and it is possible visit it to discover a small and still uncontaminated 19th century corner and to know the private life of the main historical figure of the Italian Risorgimento.
Spiaggia Rosa (Rose Beach) in the Budelli islet has been the set of Michelangelo Antonioni movie Il Deserto Rosso (The Red Desert), thanks to its wildness and yearning beauty.
The island of Asinara is located, on the contrary, in the north-western Sardinia and belongs to the Porto Torres municipality. A small channel separates it from Punta Falcone.
The history of this small Sardinian stretch started during the Neolithic era as shown by some finds and it is continued with several dominations as long as in 1885 it became a penal colony.
From 1885 to 1999 it has been totally inaccessible and starting from sixties until the reopening as National Park, it has hosted terrorists as Raffaele Cutolo and mafiosi as Salvatore Riina. Today it is one of the more gorgeous areas in Sardinia thanks to its wild beauty caused by its prolonged isolation.
It is curious to know that the name has origin from its wild donkeys population that today represent a tourist attraction. Asini is the Italian translation of donkeys and that’s why Asinara (something as Donkeys Island).
The archipelago of Tavolara is close to Olbia and it is formed by three small islets: Tavolara, the biggest and the main one, Molara and Molarotto. It is a part of the Tavolara and Capo Coda Cavallo sea park and it is considered one of the more beautiful stretches of coast of the whole Mediterranean sea.
The Island of Tavolara during the 19th century has been protagonist of a fascinating and mysterious story. It was the residence of a Ligurian man called Giuseppe Bertoleoni that has reached Sardinia at the end of the 18th century. During the the first years of 19th century he has decided to occupy the island, at that time uninhabited, and has proclaimed himself King of Tavolara.
The State of Tavolara during its short history became a small Kingdome, maybe the smaller of the whole history, with 55 inhabitants. This Kingdome has been officially recognized by the Queen of the U.K. that at the end of 19th century has sent there some emissaries to take a photo of the King and his court for her private collection. That photo is still showed in the Buckingham Palace.
Tavolara was rejoined, without official acts, during the 20th century to the Italian territory and now gives hospitality to the descendants of the first King that manage the two restaurants on the island and a ferry line connecting with the Sardinian territory.
There are several possibilities to arrange a stay in the northern Sardinia to discover its archipelagos and sea parks thanks to quality
accommodations located in the surroundings. La Maddalena and Palau are the ideal places for a stay useful to visit La Maddalena archipelago. Stintino and Alghero have several hotels, holiday homes, aparthotels for a stay close to the Asinara island and the resorts between Olbia and San Teodoro are recommended for a stay close to the Tavolara sea park.
Luca Frau
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