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T e Travel Guide 5


Best of both worlds


From its wine to its words, the tiny Italian isle of Pantelleria in the Strait of Sicily owes much of its character to the Arabic infl uences of nearby North Africa. Similarly infl uential is the island’s rich, dramatic landscape. Words: Julia Buckley


The volcanic rocks dropping to the sea in the rough part of the east coast, in the Laghetto delle Ondine area PHOTOGRAPH: FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI M


y nonno told me he could see the camels in Tunisia when he was younger,” says Salvatore Murana.


I’ve come to meet Pantelleria’s wine king up here on the Mueggen plateau, but Salvatore doesn’t want to talk about maceration or varietals; he wants to deliver a eulogy to his island, which bobs in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia. He claims this is the navel of the


world, and while that might not be scientifi cally verifi able, what’s certain is that Pantelleria is a place where Europe meets Africa. Closer to Tunisia than Sicily — 37 miles and 62 respectively — this volcanic island, known as the ‘black pearl of the Mediterranean’ for its inky cliff s, has long been multicultural thanks to its strategic location. Colonised by the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans and Spanish, before becoming part of Italy, Pantelleria’s culture is as stratifi ed as its volcanic layers. T e Arabs of North Africa, who


ruled from the 8th to the 12th century,


left the biggest imprint. Even today, the dialect is a mix of Sicilian and Arabic. Village names — Khamma, Gadir, Bukkuram — have an Arabic twang, while the traditional house is the square and squat dammuso with a white-domed roof, brought over from North Africa. “Our terracing [of the cliff s] is from


Arab culture,” says Salvatore. “T e canalisation of water is Arabic. Our language…” he looks around. “I live to breathe this land. I love talking about it.” Even Salvatore’s vines are of Arabic origin. Pantelleria’s Zibibbo wine and caramelly Passito dessert wine are made from the Moscato d’Alessandria grape, thought to have originated in Egypt or Tunisia. T e islanders have earned UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status for the way they plant them: low, in hollowed-out earth, to protect them from the winds that whip the island. Winemaking isn’t the only thing that’s done diff erently. Although this is offi cially Italy,


you won’t fi nd any Renaissance art galleries here; Pantelleria has a museum dedicated to the caper. And


The capers harvest early in the morning. PHOTOGRAPH: FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI


instead of the fabled beaches elsewhere in the country, this is an island of rocky coves that take a scramble to get to. “T ere’s no middle way with her,”


says Peppe d’Aietti, an author and guide. “She’s wild, hard and made


for only a few to love.” Peppe is one of them. He once moved to Sicily for work, but, he says, “the island was always in my head”. Now, he leads travellers on hiking tours away from the spectacular coastline — one of sheer cliff s and jagged lava fl ows, with knockout sea views — and into the island’s surprisingly green interior. Pantelleria is a volcanic island, but


it isn’t just one volcano, according to Peppe: there are scores of cones on land, with others underwater. What I thought were hills are, in fact, volcanoes, and the plains where Pantelleria’s famously tasty vegetables grow are collapsed calderas. We head up to Montagna Grande,


the highest cone at 2,743ft. Peppe says that on a clear day, you can see Tunisia, but today, the clouds swirl below us around the neighbouring cone of Monte Gibele. Up here is an Eden of holm oaks and arbutus trees, while further down, Peppe spies a rare orchid and grabs a pod of wild peas. As well as its dramatic coastline,


Pantelleria is known for its thermal waters. Above the ancient settlement


of Sibà, I walk along drystone terraces and past wildfl ower meadows to a cliff , where steam curls out of a slit in the rock. It’s the Grotta di Benikulà, where vapours emerge from the mountain into the small cave, creating something like a volcano-heated hammam. I roast inside, emerging drenched in sweat to a view of wildfl owers, the plains of the collapsed calderas beyond and the blue Mediterranean in the distance. Again, you can see North Africa if it’s clear, but I don’t need to — Pantelleria’s multicultural history is embedded in the rock.


More info: vinimurana.it How to do it: Peppe d’Aietti leads two-hour hikes, from €15 (£13) per person. pantelleriaculturaenatura.it Cognoscenti Travel off ers bespoke trips to Pantelleria, including accommodation (B&B), car hire and fl ights from €800 (£682) per person. cognoscentitravel.com


First published in the September 2022 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).


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