Ustica: The place my ancestors called home.
My Ustica!The colonizers of Ustica in more recent times came from the island of Lipari and it's surrounding islands. Lipari was colonized at least a thousand years before Ustica and has a very interesting history, itself. In 1762-63, the King of Italy sponsored the colonization of the tiny island of Ustica. One of the appointed leaders of this action was Don Antonino Favaloro, husband of Maria Bertucci. These people, chosen by the Franciscans priests of Lipari, traveled to Ustica to begin it's colonization. Among the group selected by the priests were: Bertucci, Favaloro, Maggiore, Palmisano, Picone and many others, a total of 85 families with a head count of 399 people. Prior to 1762, a group from Lipari attempted to colonize Ustica without the protection of the King of Italy. Turkish pirate invaders came to the island of Ustica and overpowered the group and removed them 
to the North African country of Algiers. There, in Algiers, they were held captive for 7 years as slaves: men, women and children. The families back on Lipari tormented the Franciscans priests for the return of their loved ones. The people, with the help of the priests from Lipari and the Franciscan priests in Algiers, organized the safe return of the hostages for 7 ship loads of chick peas and other food stuffs. The hostage takers eventually returned their captives to Lipari. In 1762, this same group was asked to return to Ustica again. But this time they were given protection by the King of Italy. When the Turk pirates returned once again to enslave our dear ancestors, the King's troops fought the criminals back into the sea. That was the very last attack on Ustica.

Filicudi, Alicudi and Salina
Filicudi, Alicudi and Salina.
A view of Filicudi and Alicudi as seen from the island of Salina in the Eolie Island Group.

Lipari as seen from Vulcano.
Lipari (at top) as seen from Vulcano.

The Aeolian archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (west of mainland Italy and north of Sicily) is interpreted as a volcanic arc. All of the seven main islands are volcanic in origin. Three volcanoes in the arc are active: Lipari, Stromboli and Vulcano. Stromboli has been erupting almost continuously for 2,000 years. Vulcano has had numerous explosive eruptions, the most recent in 1888. The most recent eruption on Lipari, the largest island in the archipelago, was about 1,400 years ago.

This photograph was taken from the the summit of Vulcano looking north to Lipari. The island of Lipari rises from about 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) below sea level to about 2,000 feet (600 meters) above sea level. Vulcanello, in the middle ground, erupted most recently in 1631. Photograph by Gordon MacDonald, U.S. Geological Survey. The date of photograph is unknown.

Source of Information: T. Simkin, and L. Siebert, 1994, Volcanoes of the World: Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona.

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The page last updated on Nov 4, 2006