The small island of Ustica, which has largely remained wild, stands out in particular for the quality of its seabeds and its many caves. It is a paradise for divers, protected by Italy’s oldest marine nature reserve.
Overview of Ustica
Ustica lies off the coast of Sicily, about 65 kilometres north of Palermo and 95 kilometres west of the island of Alicudi, the westernmost of the Aeolian Islands.
Its greatest width is 3.5 km and its area is about 9 km².
This island is only the small emerged part of a large and ancient underwater volcano, with the remains of vents such as Punta Maggiore (244 m) and Guardia dei Turchi (238 m).
The dark colour of its volcanic rocks is probably the origin of its name, derived from the Latin Ustrum (burnt). Its jagged coastline hides many caves and coves.
The inhabitants live from fishing and tourism, but also from a growing agricultural production, including famous lentils, as well as renowned wine.
Historical overview
The Greeks called the island Osteodes (the island of bones), perhaps because of the presence of numerous human bones, which according to a legend are the remains of sailors bewitched by the song of sirens and who lost their minds.
Diodorus Siculus links them to the bones of thousands of Carthaginian mercenaries abandoned on the island by their commander during a mutiny in a war against Syracuse.
It was the Romans who named it Ustica (from ustum meaning burnt). In Greek mythology, it has also been identified (along with the island of Salina) as Aeaea, the home of the sorceress Circe, the one who turned visitors into pigs.
Many remains were found on the island and on the seabed, including evidence from the Palaeolithic, underwater shipwrecks, with traces of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and even Saracen pirates who long used the island as a base.
In 1759, the island was colonised by order of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, building the urban centre of Cala Santa Maria.
Visiting the island of Ustica
The small inhabited centre extends in an amphitheatre around a bay that shelters the port. From the latter you reach the centre, where the walls of the houses have had the particularity of bearing artistic paintings for some years, with landscapes, trompe-l’œil, portraits, still lifes, fantastical subjects, etc. The Santa Maria tower dominates the village and houses an archaeological museum with prehistoric, Greek and Roman finds.
The island’s coastline
The coast of Ustica can ideally be explored on a boat trip, discovering several of its beautiful caves (the Blue Grotto, the Green Grotto, the Pastizza Grotto with its stalactites, the Grotta delle Barche, etc).
On land, you can reach sandy and pebbly coves, and other caves, including Cala Sidoti beach and the Scogli Piatti rocks to the west, the natural pool near the Punta Cavazzi lighthouse to the south-west, and to the north the pebble beach of Punticedda, or the small cove of Curruggio.
The seabeds
The seabeds are the most important heritage of the island of Ustica, constituting one of Italy’s 20 marine nature reserves, and a true paradise for scuba diving enthusiasts.
These seabeds are rich and varied, with rare fauna mixing many species such as barracudas, groupers, sea bream, mullet, moray eels, tuna, anchovies, octopuses, etc.
You can explore several underwater caves, such as the shrimp cave, basalt rocks colonised by organisms, the Grotta delle Cipree with its stalactites and exposed tree roots, etc.
Trails and sites of the island
Just east of the village, the Rocca della Falconiera is one of the most beautiful places on the island, an archaeological site with above all a superb view, as well as tombs from the 3rd century BC, and at the foot of the promontory early Christian remains and a Roman necropolis carved into the rock.
The site was fortified by the Bourbons, as were the defence towers (the Santa Maria Tower and the Spalmatore Tower).
The church of Ferdinando Re on the central square is the island’s main religious building, along with the church of Santa Maria dei sette Dolori.
Several trails go around the island, crossing its Mediterranean maquis and passing through the most beautiful spots, which can be travelled on foot, by bike, or even on a donkey’s back!
On foot, it takes about 5 hours to make the complete circuit of the coast (with about a third tarmacked).
The main trail runs along the south coast (sentiero del Mezzogiorno), linking the Torre Santa Maria to the south of the village near Cala San Paolo (where a deep fissure is visible), to Punta Cavazzi passing through Punta Galera.
Other trails cross the island, such as the Sentiero del Bosco which starts to the north from the town hall square, passes overlooking Cala Giaconi, then by a 19th-century sanctuary, the Scoglio del Sacramento rock, the Gorgo Maltese which collected rainwater since Roman times, all the way to the tip of the island with the prehistoric village of the Faraglioni.
A trail climbs into the heart of the island to Monte Guardia dei Turchi (244 m high).
Archaeological sites and museums
Over time, several peoples left their traces on Ustica, including tombs, galleries, and remains of shipwrecks that have been discovered on its seabeds.
In particular, to the north of the island there was the prehistoric village of Tramontana dating from the Bronze Age, made up of circular houses and protected by a powerful wall with two curtains 6 metres wide reinforced with semi-circular towers. It resembles the village on the island of Panarea in the Aeolian archipelago. Only a section of the apparently elliptical enclosure remains. However, the presence of huts on the emerged rock offshore suggests that the latter was included in the enclosure, and that it became detached following a collapse, probably during an earthquake. This is perhaps why the village was abandoned in the 12th century BC.
The site of the Rocca Falconiera, already mentioned above, was fortified in the 18th century by the Bourbons to defend against Barbary pirates. The origin of the site dates back to the 3rd century BC, with terraced levels where houses were installed, some of them cave dwellings, cisterns, etc.
At the municipal archaeological museum are kept finds from the Middle Bronze Age, furniture, obsidian utensils and jewellery, etc.
Near the Santa Maria tower, a museum of the institute of geology and volcanology covers the geo-volcanological history of the island’s formation.
Where Ustica is: map
Information
How to reach Ustica
You can easily reach Ustica by sea. Maritime connections are direct from Palermo, in 2h30 by conventional ferry or 70 min by hydrofoil (La Siremar offers ferry or hydrofoil every day; and Liberty Lines a fast hydrofoil every day except Tuesday). In summer, you can also reach the island via Ustica Lines, which operates the Trapani-Favignana-Ustica-Naples route (and in reverse on the return) by hydrofoil. It takes 4h to reach Ustica from Naples. The NGI company also offers connections from Palermo in summer.