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Asinara island
is the extreme part of the namesake gulf. Located in the north-western
coast of Sardinia, develops with a very irregular
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| Asinara
Island |
shape on a territory of 51.5
Km2 and 100 Km. of coasts length. As for estension Asinara is the
second island of Sardinia after S. Antioco. The surface is rather
hilly; the higher peak is Punta Scomunica of 408 mt. It's covered
by a thick mediterranean scrub and is on
the contrary almost lacking of trees, with the exception of a wood
of holmes in the locality Elighe Mannu in the north part of the
island; in the other parts of the island the only small trees you
can see are some junipers. It has indented coasts;
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| Asinara
Island seen from CapoFalcone |
peaks vertically on the sea
alternates to bays still uncontaminated of incomparable beauty;
the west side of the island is more rocky and steep, while the east
one has wide flat parts with a depth of a maximum of 50 mt., but
there are only three sandy beaches in the whole island, all of them
in the eastern coast. Object of pirate raids of Saracens first and
place of hard battles between Genoa, Pisa and then Aragone, in 1775
became dukate when Antonio Manca Amato received it as feudo by Savoia.
But its more
recent history very sad and quite particular had the merit of preservation
from human hands.
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| Cala Sabina beach |
In 1861 a sanitary station
of quarantine was settled there;
in 1885 the island became public estate and sardinian farmers and
fishers of Genoa that lived on Asinara were forced to move to the
Sardinia coast where they founded the village of Stintino;
during the first world war, the island had to host a prison camp
for Austrian and Hungarian soldiers, 5000 of wich died during inprisonment;
finally in more recent times became a penal colony and then in 70s
penitentiary of maximum security. In
past years was assigned mainly to detention of mafia members and
terrorists; among them
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| The bunker prison
of the mafia boss Totò Riina |
Totò Riina was locked
up in a bunker in the beutiful village of Cala d'Oliva. It was so
that prisoners and warders have been the only inhabitants of this
island for about 110 years, until December 1997, when the penitentiary
was closed down. Since
1999 Asinara Island can be visited, but only through organized and
guided visits. Swimming is permitted only in three beaches and docking
of private boats is not allowed. In
1991 Asinara became a National Park. Beeing
nature reserve, you can find there several rare species of animals;
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| The
albino donkey of Asinara |
among them the last exemplars
of the famous albino donkey, by now a peculiarity
only of this island; imported on the island at the beginning of
1800 it was probably abandoned when at the end of the century the
inhabitants
moved to Stintino; since then the albino donkeys reproduced in freedom.
On the contrary it is by the time extinct the noon seal, at least
on these coasts where it was resent until 50's.
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