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MONTECRISTO
>> Presentation
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 Montecristo
is the wildest island of the Tuscan Archipelago and the one
located most far away. Dumas' pen made it a legend. At the end
of the 19th century, the French writer set the adventure of
the prisoners who were looking for the fabulous treasure which
the monks had preserved and protected in the recesses of a cave.
The scientists presume that the mythical treasure, which became
famous thanks to Dumas, actually only consisted in furnishings
and church ornaments and that the pirates led by Caput found
it about three centuries before the date given by Dumas. |
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As a matter of fact, in 1553, Dragut's pirates, after having
sacked Sicily and Sardinia, conquered Montecristo and took all
its treasures and the monks became slaves. The legend of the
pirate has been kept alive for centuries and many people, adventurers
and scientists, have entered the inhospitable forests of Montecristo
to look for the lost treasure which still today has not been
found.  And
even if you get the idea to look for golden coins, you will
have to give it up as tourists are not allowed to visit the
island. The island became a National Park in 1971. The Forest
Corp of Follonica organises visits in small groups and you can
book it for one day with several month in advance. Montecristo
is mountainous, wild and inhospitable. It is hard to get here
and the island is almost expugnable due to the huge granite
blocks. The irregular coastline rises straight up from the water
and has been modelled by the wind and the sea forming extravagant
and curious shapes which increase the dark and magnetic fascination
of the island. The holm-oak forests that once used to cover
Montecristo only remain in the centre of the island, while the
Mediterranean bush covers the mountains slopes, hiding many
springs and streams.  The
only place were you can access the island is called Cala Maesta
and the only buildings on the island, among them Villa Reale
and some back-garden here and there, are located in the valley
with the same name. After Dragut's pirates had sacked the island,
it was completely abandoned and during the last centuries it
has changed owners several times: from the English noble Tylor
who built the Villa of Cala Maesta, to the Florentine noble
Ginori who made it a game preserve, to the future king Vittori
Emanuele III who introduced muflons and goats from Montenegro
on the island. The Fortress is a testimony of the past and was
built on the top of the mountain with the same name at about
650 metres above sea level, which is the highest peak of the
island. It was probably the Appians who built it and the only
thing that remains is the stone base. The island also features
the ruins of the Benedictine Monastery from the Middle Ages
which was abandoned in 1500 after the devastation by the pirates
of Dragut. The Monastery in granite, hosted the common halls
on the ground floor and the private cells on the first floor.
The only thing that remains today are the ruins as a sign of
the destruction made by the treasure-hunters and the German
navy from the second World War who used it for target practice.
 Only
the impressive Gothic façade resists. The convent was
dedicated to San Mamiliano, who died on the island in 460 and
the story tells that he hided himself in a cave under the Monastery
after having killed the dragoon. The Saint's cave is located
at the inlet with the same name and is actually a sober sanctuary
in the rock, with a gushing spring considered to be miraculous.
Not far away, there are the remains of an old water-mill, built
with squared granite blocks. The rich Englishman Lord Tylor
had the Villa Reale built in the middle of the 19th century
and today it is a guest-quarter for the scientists. The noble
Florentine Ginori, who transformed the island into a game preserve,
had it restored at the end of the same century and today the
Villa preserves a small Museum of Natural Science behind the
back-garden.
Photographs granted by Mediaweb. |
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