Marettimo (; Sicilian: ''Marrètimu'') is one of the

Aegadian Islands The Aegadian Islands (; ; ; ; ) are a group of five small mountainous islands in the Mediterranean Sea off the northwest coast of Sicily, Italy, near the cities of Trapani and Marsala, with a total area of . The island of Favignana (''Aegusa'' ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

west of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It forms a part of the municipality (''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'') of Favignana in the

Province of Trapani The province of Trapani (; ; officially ''libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by ...

. It takes about an hour to reach the island from

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

History

The ancient name of the island was Hiera, part of the Greek name ''Hierà Nèsos'' (Ἱερά Νήσος), which means "Sacred Island" in Greek. Indeed, its Latin name used by Pliny was also "Sacra". The name Marettimo probably comes from the words ''mar'' (sea) and ''timo'' (thyme) due to the profusion of thyme on the island. However, it may stem from a local pronunciation of the word "maritimo". The island was an important observation point during Roman times, hence the Casa Romana, where it was easy to observe passing maritime traffic. The sea routes between Italy and North Africa and Italy and Spain (via Sardinia) would pass Marettimo. Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi (1099–1165 or 1166), the Moroccan Muslim geographer, cartographer, Egyptologist and traveller who lived in Sicily at the court of King Roger II, mentioned this island, naming it جزيرة مليطمة (''jazīrat Malīṭma'', "the island of Malitma") on page 583 of his book ''Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ihtiraq ghal afaq'', otherwise known as The Book of Roger, considered a geographic encyclopaedia of the medieval world. There is a well restored Byzantine-Norman church adjacent to the Casa Romana. There are several impressive grottos around the island's coast and innumerable spots for excellent swimming in pristine waters on the western coast accessible only by boat.

Geography

Marettimo is the second largest of the Aegadian Islands. The highest point is ''Montefalcone'' with a height of . The island has about 300 inhabitants in the winter and 700 in the summer (not including tourists), who mainly live from fishing, tourism and traditional handcrafts. Fishing is predominantly conducted in the summer months.

Flora and fauna

The island is home to about 500 plant species, many of them indigenous and very rare, among the most endangered being ''

Bupleurum dianthifolium ''Bupleurum dianthifolium'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is endemic to Marettimo in the Aegadian Islands west of Sicily. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. It is threatened by habitat loss ...

'', '' Brassica macrocarpa'', '' Scilla hughii'' and '' Thymus richardii'' subsp. ''nitidus''; the last was chemically investigated.Ammar Bader, Guido Flamini, Pier Luigi Cioni and Ivano Morelli, Journal of Essential Oils Research, Vol 13 pp.8-10 There is a sizeable population of donkeys and horses on the island. There are wild goats, rabbits, eagles, peregrine falcons and plenty of screeching gulls.

Gallery

File:Marettimo2.jpg, The village of Marettimo File:Marettimo3.jpg, Inside the village File:Casa Romana1.jpg, The ruins of the "Casa Romana" settlement. File:Town of Marettimo.jpg, From a ridge above town: Scalo Vecchio on the left, Scalo Nuovo on the right, and the Casa Romana in the left foreground. File:Scoglio Cammello.jpg, Scoglio del Cammello

References

External links