Asinara
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Asinara is an Italian island of in area. The name is Italian for "donkey-inhabited", but it is thought to derive from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
"sinuaria", and meaning sinus-shaped. The island is virtually uninhabited. The census of population of 2001 lists one man. The island is located off the north-western tip of
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 ...
, and is mountainous in geography with steep,
rocky coast A cliffed coast, also called an abrasion coast, is a form of coast where the action of marine waves has formed steep cliffs that may or may not be precipitous. It contrasts with a flat or alluvial coast. Formation In coastal areas in whic ...
s. Because fresh water is scarce, trees are sparse and low scrub is the predominant vegetation. Part of the national parks system of Italy, the island was recently converted to a
wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...
and marine preserve. It is home to a population of wild Albino donkeys from which the island may take its name.


Geography and geology

Asinara is located at the north-western tip of
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 ...
. It is a territory of with a length of and a width which ranges from at Cala di Sgombro to of the northern part, as well as of coast length. The highest point, at , is Punta della Scomunica. The territory is entirely state property. The island is formed by four mountainous sections linked by a narrow, flat coastal belt. The windswept west coast is steep and rocky with a very deep sea bottom. The west coast turns down towards the bay of Asinara. As an extension of the larger island, Asinara is the second largest island after
Sant'Antioco Sant'Antioco (; sc, Santu Antiogu) is the name of both an island and a municipality (''comune'') in southwestern Sardinia, in the Province of South Sardinia, in Sulcis zone. With a population of 11,730, the municipality of Sant'Antioco it is the ...
. The surface is hilly, covered by thick Mediterranean scrub and few trees, with the exception of a wooded area in the northern part of the island. In the other parts of the island only small trees survive, mostly
junipers Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
. The island has indented coast, as seen from Cape Falcone. The west side of the island is more rocky and steep, while the east has wide, flat areas with a maximum height of . There are only three sandy beaches, all on the eastern coast. , of the surrounding marine and underwater environment is a protected natural area. From a geological point of view, the Asinara is part of the
Nurra The Nurra is a geographical region in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. It is the second largest plain of the island, located between the towns of Sassari, Porto Torres and Alghero. It covers a surface of 700 km² and is bounded by the S ...
of north-western Sardinia, made up by more than 80 percent of
metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
. The rock characterizes the island landscape together with the woody vegetation. Among the metamorphic rocks, great interest is attached to rare black Hercynean
amphibolite Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose (flaky ...
s 950 million years old, the oldest rocks in Italy.


History


Early history

Human habitation on the island dates back to the Neolithic Age, with Domus de Janas ( sprites' houses) near Campu Perdu. Carved into soft
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, the constructions are unique to the island. Because of its central position in the Mediterranean, Asinara was known and used by
Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
ns,
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, and
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. The
Camaldoli Camaldoli () is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Poppi, in Tuscany, Italy. It is mostly known as the ancestral seat of the Camaldolese monastic order, originated in the eponymous hermitage, which can still be visited. The name was derived from ...
te monastery of Sant'Andrea and the Castellaccio on Punta Maestra, Fornelli, may date to the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. The island was also an object of pirate raids by the
Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
s. Later, ownership of Asinara was contested between
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, the
Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...
, and the kingdom of
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
. From the 17th century,
shepherds A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
from
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 ...
and
Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
colonized the island. In 1721, it became property of the
Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...
Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
. In 1885 the island became state property; a
lazaretto A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings ...
, the Primario Lazzaretto del Regno d'Italia, was built at Cala Reale and an agricultural
penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
was established at Cala d'Oliva, by order of King
Umberto I of Italy Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900. Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
. About 100 families of Sardinian farmers and Genoese fishermen who lived on Asinara were obliged to move to Sardinia, where they founded the village of
Stintino Stintino ( sdc, Isthintini, sc, Istintìnu) is a coastal ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about northwest of Sassari. Geography Stintino is located ...
. During the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the island was used as a prison camp for some 24,000
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
soldiers, 5,000 of whom died during their imprisonment. It was used as a place of detention for
Ethiopian POWs during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italians captured and either imprisoned as prisoners of war or executed selected prominent Ethiopians. The majority of the public executions and mass incarcerations happened in the wake of the assassinatio ...
. Majority of the Ethiopians kept there were members of the Ethiopian nobility. In the 1970s the prison facilities were refurbished as a maximum security prison. In past years was assigned mainly to detention of
mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
members and terrorists, and has housed the likes of such as the mafia boss
Totò Riina Salvatore Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called (, Totò being the diminutive of Salvatore), was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia, known for a ruthless murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s ...
. Prisoners and warders were the only inhabitants of Asinara for about 110 years, until the closure of the prison in December 1997. Construction on the island has been forbidden for the last century.


Modern history and the national park

In 1997 Asinara was established as a
National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
, and is now a nature reserve. Its natural beauty, unspoiled by the sparse human settlement, made it an ideal candidate. Since 1999, tourists have been able to visit Asinara Island, but only through organized and guided tours. Swimming is permitted only on three beaches and docking of private boats is forbidden. In 2002, the waters offshore of the national park were zoned and designated as Italy's newest marine protected area, encompassing of
coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
around the island and of its coastal waters. There are two no access, no fishing zones on Asinara Island. There are many species of native and introduced mammals on the island, including horses, asses, goats, sheep, and pigs. The island's vegetation is a mix of plants native to
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 ...
, plants common throughout the
Mediterranean 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 e ...
, or
introduced plant An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
s found in other
bioregions A bioregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a biogeographic realm, but larger than an ecoregion or an ecosystem, in the World Wide Fund for Nature classification scheme. There is also an attempt to use the ...
, including North America. The island also harbors several rarely seen species, including the white
Asinara donkey The Asinara, it, Asino dell'Asinara, italic=no (), is a breed of feral donkey indigenous to the island of Asinara, which lies off the north-west coast of Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. Most of the population is wholly or partly ...
. There are many old facilities on the island, including the prison facilities, but also small cities built for and by the inhabitants of the quarantine camp, and for the staff that serviced the camp and the prison. All of these have been turned over to the national park, and in tandem the marine protected area, who sorted out what will be kept and with what restoration is needed.


Details of protection

A Presidential Decree, on 3 October 2002, officially set both the Park and the Park body, which is a management body envisioned for national parks by a framework on protected areas. The park body will also manage the Protected Marine Area set by decree of the Minister of the environment and land protection on 13 August 2002. Both the park and the marine area are enclosed in the protected area "international cetacean sanctuary"(Act. 391/01). Asinara is furthermore a Site of Community importance.(on 3 April 2000). There are strict regulations on the island put in place to guarantee the conservation of the marine and land habitats. Institutional decrees (M.D. 28.11.97, M.D. 13.8.02, Presidential Decree 3.10.02), with numerous clauses, include no permission to use own vehicles, prohibition of sport fishing, anchorage and navigation with the exception of authorized means.


Ecology

The vegetation of Asinara is a typical
Mediterranean 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 e ...
macchia, with
lentisk ''Pistacia lentiscus'' (also lentisk or mastic) is a dioecious evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus ''Pistacia'' native to the Mediterranean Basin. It grows up to tall and is cultivated for its aromatic resin, mainly on the Greek islan ...
, ''
Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...
'',
tree heath ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an or ...
(''Erica arborea''), ''
Calicotome spinosa ''Calicotome spinosa'', the thorny broom or spiny broom, is a very spiny, densely branched shrub of the family Fabaceae which can reach up to three metres in height. It grows in the Western Mediterranean region on sunny slopes and dry, rocky gro ...
'', ''
Phillyrea ''Phillyrea'' is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and naturalized in the Canary Islands and Madeira. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 3–9 m tall, related ...
angustifolia'',
Phoenician juniper ''Juniperus phoenicea'', the Phoenicean juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region. Description ''Juniperus phoenicea'' is a large shrub or small tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and a rounded ...
and
cistus ''Cistus'' (from the Greek ''kistos'') is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species (Ellul ''et al.'' 2002). They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region ...
. The
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
consists of 678 species, 29 of which are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
. Some, such as ''
Centaurea ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...
horrida'', ''
Limonium ''Limonium'' is a genus of 120 flowering plant species. Members are also known as sea-lavender, statice, caspia or marsh-rosemary. Despite their common names, species are not related to the lavenders or to rosemary. They are instead in Plumbag ...
laetum'' and ''Limonium acutifolium'', are exclusive to northern Sardinia, while others are characteristic of the Sardinian – Corsican region. The
fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
numbers around 80 wild species of terrestrial vertebrates, including
mouflon The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, the Caspian Sea, Caspian region from eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds. Taxonomy ''Ovis gmelini'' ...
,
wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
, horses, Sardinian donkeys and the white
Asinara donkey The Asinara, it, Asino dell'Asinara, italic=no (), is a breed of feral donkey indigenous to the island of Asinara, which lies off the north-west coast of Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. Most of the population is wholly or partly ...
, which was introduced onto the island at the beginning of the 1800s, and probably abandoned when the inhabitants were moved to Stintino.
Birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
include the rare
Audouin's gull Audouin's gull (''Ichthyaetus audouinii'') is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''ikhthus'', "fish", and ''aetos'', "eagle", and t ...
,
cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
s,
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
s and the
Barbary partridge The Barbary partridge (''Alectoris barbara'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae) of the order Galliformes. It is native to North Africa. Distribution The Barbary partridge has its main native range in North Africa, and is also na ...
. Asinara is the only place in Sardinia where the
magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...
is present. The marine setting is rocky in the eastern side, with steep slopes and ravines, but mainly sandy in the western area. The shallowest part of the coast is colonized by two rare species, the
red alga Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...
'' Lithophyllum lichenoides'' and the endangered giant limpet ''
Patella ferruginea ''Patella ferruginea'', commonly known as the ribbed Mediterranean limpet, is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is a large limpet, native to the ...
''. The integrity of the ecosystem is due to the history of its settlement, or rather the lack of it, that is a characteristic of the island.


See also

*
List of islands of Italy This is a list of islands of Italy. There are over 400 islands in Italy, including islands in the Mediterranean Sea (including the marginal seas: Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Libyan Sea, Ligurian Sea, Sea of Sardinia, Tyrrhenian Sea, and inland isl ...
*
Asinara National Park Asinara is the second largest island of Sardinia after Sant'Antioco. It houses a great variety of habitats. The island has an extremely odd historical, environmental, and legal status. It is known as "Isola del Diavolo" ("Devil's Island"), since ...


References


External links


"Asinara National Park"A Collection of Images
mostly the albino donkeys. {{authority control Islands of Sardinia Internment camps in Italy Defunct prisons in Italy Prison islands