Mal di Ventre ( Sardinian: Malu 'Entu) is an island located off the coast of Sardinia. Mal di Ventre is notable for its Roman ruins and a Sardinian nationalist attempt at creating a micronation in 2008.

Location and geography

Mal di Ventre is located in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, from

Oristano Oristano (; sc, Aristanis ) is an Italian city and ''comune'', and capital of the Province of Oristano in the central-western part of the island of Sardinia. It is located on the northern part of the Campidano plain. It was established as the pr ...

in central-west

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. The island is inside a

marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...

and its western coast is exposed to the Mistral, giving it a rugged topography as a result. There is a lighthouse at the island's highest point, above sea level.

History

The name of the island comes from the Savoyard cartographers, who mistranslated into Italian the Sardinian name '' Malu 'Entu ''("bad winds") as ''Mal di Ventre'' ("stomach pain"). Ancient civilizations used to live on the island. The island was also inhabited during

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. The island contains ruins of Roman buildings, as well as the remnants of an ancient well. In 1898, the island became part of Parco del Sinis-Montiferru (Sinis-Montiferru institutional park). Mal di Ventre was owned by the British entrepreneur John Miller, who had owned the island since 1972. In July 2014 the island was put up for sale, with an asking price of .

Republic of Malu Entu

In September 2008 a former truck driver named Salvatore "Doddore" Meloni and his followers seized Mal di Ventre and declared it to be an independent state as part of a broader and controversial effort to win the independence of

. Inspired by the independence movements of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

and South Ossetia, Meloni declared himself president of the Republic of Malu Entu and set up a presidential residence in a blue

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

tent A tent () is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using gu ...

. He declared the nation tax free and claimed that over 300 people had expressed an interest in moving there. The island was previously a meeting place for the Sardinian Independentist Party. Not long after he took over the island, Meloni sent drafts of his initiative to both the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

, who was President of the Council of Ministers at the time. In 2011, Meloni was charged with tax evasion to the sum of 5 million euros. In the summer of 2012 Meloni was convicted for his role in trying to take over the island and sentenced to 20 months in prison. In April 2017, Meloni was arrested and started a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

in prison, asking to be considered a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

. On July 5, 2017, after two months of hunger strike, he died.

References

{{authority control Mediterranean islands Micronations Politics of Sardinia Private islands of Italy Former republics Island countries

Location and geography

History

Republic of Malu Entu

See also

References