CARLOFORTE
HISTORY
For its volcanic origin, the island has wonderful rocky coasts in the north and stunning sand beaches in the south, with a diversity of the coast that amazes even those who have been living all their life on the island.
Rich of tradition and history too, the town of Carloforte was founded in the XVIII century, during the reing of King Carlo Emanuele III, by a colony of Ligurian fishermans coming from Tabarka island, in Tunisia, where they went to fish coral from Liguria in the XVII century. As Tabarka became poorer of coral and too small for the growing population, and for the continuous invasions of arabics on the island, the King Carlo Emanuele III gave the fishermans a new island to live on, so in 1738 they moved to San Pietro’s Island, and built on his honour the town of Carloforte.
BEACHES AND COAST
In the southern coast of the island there are many wonderful beaches, one different from the other, that can satisfy any liking! And in the north shore the caves, cliffs, hidden coves, the lighthouse bay, with rocky or sand bottom, live you breathless every time you get only a glimpse of them!
Carloforte can fulfill all of your senses, it’s really worth a visit!
FOOD
On the island you can still hear most of the people talking the Genoese dialect, and you can find typical dishes of Liguria ad pesto, focaccia, farinata. At the same time, the arabic period left some cookery traditions too, with the typical Carloforte dish CousCous.
Last but not least, Red Tuna is one of the most important typical food of Carloforte, as it’s the only place where you can still see the old traditional Tuna Fishing process, still made as the fishermans did for centuries, that makes the island an icon for tuna tasting!
FAUNA
On the island there is a natural oasis where the Queen’s Hawk, Falco Eleonorae, comes every year from Madagascar to breed. This oasis is protected by the association LIPU that organizes tours to visit the hawk’s nests, and obviously by the sea we can see them by SUP!
Also, in the salt fields just next to town, you can see a lot of Pink Flamingos that used to migrate here from Africa. Now they live on the island all year round.