The archipelago of Tremiti Island

The islands that comose Tremitiarchipelago are : San Domino, San Nicola, Caprara; and little rocks the Cretaccio and La Vecchia.

Tremiti islands, wonderful paradise: someone has called them the “brivido of adventure”. Someone else called them simply the mixture of mythical beauties of nature. Tremiti islands are called also as Diomede Islands, because this hero berthed there after Troy war. His friends were transformed by Venus in a kind of seagulls: diomedee. Tremiti Islands are 135 Km from Foggia and 87 Km from Manfredonia. It’s and archipelago composed by San Nicola Island, San Domino Island, and Caprara Island, also there are two rocks: Cretaccio and Vecchia. All the archipelago has an only city hall in San Nicola Island. The sea around islands is rich of fishes, there are lobsters, cernie etc., that’s way they are ambitious goal of scuba diving aficionados. In the centre of archipelago there are the Cretaccio, also known as half-moon, and the dark and curly rock Vecchia: both are desert, but legend says they are populated by ghosts. The first one is inhabited from a ghost of a prisoner escaped from the jail and then executed.  And the second by an old woman that it spins the wool. San Nicola Island is reminded as a present for the nasty Giulia, Emperor Augusto’s granddaughter, who lived there until died. The most important historical vicissitudes of the island are tied to the famous abbey-fortress that dominates in the island: Santa Maria a Mare. It was founded in the VIII century and it belongs to Benedettini monk of Monte Cassino abbey. The Benedettini monks founded their own state there, in a couple of centuries they accumulated many fortunes and lands also on the Gargano’s coast. After Benedettini monks there were Cistercensi monks. Then in the XIV century Pope Gregorio VII send to Tremiti islands the Lateranensi monks. The transformed the abbey in a very strong fortress, in fact it could resist to the ferocious attack of Turkish fleet. In the 600 the decline starts, and in the 1798 Ferdinand VI di Borbone presses the abbey and in 1843 it was transformed it in a penitentiary.

In the archipelago the biggest island is San Domino, which draw the name from and old little church that was there and now disappeared. For its beauty that church was named by Lateranensi monks: “Orto of paradise” (garden of paradise). The sea has created unusual caves and each one is named: Grotta delle Viole, Grotta delle Murene, Grotta del Bue Marino. Under the sea you’ll see many beauties and even a statue of San Padre Pio who is between San Nicola Island and San Domino Island. Inside the island you’ll find an impressive nature with its beaches, gardens, orange groves and prehistoric graves. Caprara Island is to north, more than 45 hectares of land. Long time ago it was rich of cappers that’s way they called it Caprara or Capperaia. Now is desert, the emblem of loneliness. Also having its shape almost flat, the Architiello (a natural rock arch) and the Grottone (a cave height 24 mt. and length 10mt) make it more interesting.