History of Lampedusa

The ancient authors tell us that Lampedusa was inhabited by Greek, Roman, Phoenician and Arab colonies. The presence of amphorae, oil lamps, burial crypts, caves, small dwellings, cisterns, wells, remains of buildings with mosaics and coins of various origins show the antiquity of the site.

We have found traces of a Neolithic settlement with embossed ceramic similar to the  “Stentinello style” [from the name of a village  near Siracusa].” (See G. Radi, “Tracce di un insediamento neolitico nell'isola di Lampedusa”, in “Atti della società Toscana di scienze naturali” [“Traces of a Neolithic settlement on the island of Lampedusa”, in "Proceedings of the Tuscan Natural Science Society"], 1972, Vol. 79: 197-205). Near the port were found some Roman catacombs.

It’s likely that Lampedusa, because of its position, had a particular importance in Roman times and also during the following periods. Some recent studies have also revealed remains of the Byzantine period: "[…] We would like to bring to the attention of an unexpected monument of early Christian and Byzantine times (...) in the island of Lampedusa, or a large underground catacomb carved into the soft rock on the south coast (...), which probably dates back to the Byzantine age (VI-VII century AD) (...) It  seems to be a cemetery of a Christian community that was hidden to the island in the fifth century AD, and from Africa rather than from Sicily, in  a port as Lampedusa could be, which was along the route that connected in late antiquity the East  with the central-western Mediterranean […] "(See “Kokalos”, 2002: 14-15).

However, Lampedusa was always rather poor people, like all the Pelagian Islands. The settlement of the island was certainly difficult for the presence of the Saracen pirates that dominated the Mediterranean. F. Maurici writes that "[...] the almost total abandonment and sporadic attendance by sailors and pirates characterize the medieval history of Ustica, Lampedusa and Linosa, three small islands, totally isolated and resource-poor (...) Linosa and Lampedusa seem entirely uninhabited between the twelfth and thirteenth century and  they will remain so until the mid-nineteenth century [...]" (See F. Maurici, “Per la storia delle isole minori della Sicilia” ["On the history of the minor islands of Sicily"] in "Acta Historica et Archeologica Medievalia", Barcelona, 2002; 193).

We have reliable information on the population of the island  only from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, when Ferdinand IV (1751-1825) attempted colonization of it. Those early settlers seem to be decimated by the plague a few years later. S. Gatt, a few years later,  founded an agricultural holding and A. Fernandez took  three or four hundred people to the island. In 1810  the present castle was started to build, in  the place where there were four ancient towers in poor condition. But this attempt at colonization, like the others, failed; and when Captain Smith visited Lampedusa in the 1820s,  he found some Maltese farmers around the island, who lived within the caves.

 

The colonization of Lampedusa by the Bourbon Government dates back to 1843, when  the captain  Sanvisente in the name of the King of the Two Sicilies , and with the consent of the Princes of Lampedusa took possession of it. On that occasion Sanvisente wrote a work about Lampedusa, which shows that in 1847 the island had 700 residents, all natives of different parts of Sicily and adjacent islands, especially  of Pantelleria. Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) in 1860 conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and also the Pelagian Islands were united to the Kingdom of Italy (1861).

In 1872 the Italian Government here created a colony of people sentenced to house arrest, which was abolished in 1940.According to the census of year 1881 the population of the town of Lampedusa ascended to 1180 inhabitants. Today Lampedusa is an ideal place to spend a holiday away from regular bathing. The culmination of the population is of course in August, but in other months of the year the island reverts to a lonely and quiet look, a very suitable moment to explore the island in all its aspects. The local population is concentrated in the south of the island where, inside a protected cove, the port is opened. Lampedusa in recent years has discovered the benefits of a  tourism for nature lover.

Etymology of Lampedusa

The “Pelagian” Islands , as the term suggests, derives from the Greek "Pelaghiai" means "sea", or "the farthest part from the mainland." Therefore, the meaning of the "Pelagian Islands" could be translated as "the islands of the high sea." In fact, N.E. Lemaire, commenting Rufus Festus Avienus (4th century AD), wrote: "Potest Pelagia Insula vocari , quae in alto iacet, et remotior a litore est" [“ 'Pelagia' can be defined  the island placed on the high  sea, and farther from the coast”] (See “Poetae Latini minores”, edidit N.E. Lemaire, Parisiis, 1825: 424 note 164). The “pelagic” term  also indicates the fauna and flora living in the open sea. Pliny (23-79 AD),  speaking about the shells off shore,  explained that “Purpurae, nomine alio Pelagiae vocantur, pabulo et solo discreta” [" The ‘Purpurae’ are also known by another name 'Pelagiae'. They are usually different, depending on the variety of the terrain where they live and the food they eat "] (See C. Plini Secundi “Historiae Mundi”, Venezia, Antonelli, 1844, Vol. I, Lib. IX: 889).

Ptolemy (100-175 AD) speaks like them: “[...]Pelaghiai de nesoi eisì tes Africhès "[...]” ["The African islands called 'Pelaghiai' are these"]. In respect of the Pelagian Islands, however, some confusion arose from the ancient times. For example, Ptolemy (“Geographia”, IV, Chapter I, 13) stated that  “Pelaghiai” are “Cossyra” (Pantelleria), “Gaulus” (Gozo) and "Melite" (Malta), and he combined "Lopadusa" (Lampedusa) and  “Aethusa” (Linosa) with Africa. Strabo (“Geographia”, 18, III), on the contrary,  called “Pelagian Islands” only  Lampedusa (“Nesos Pelaghiai 'Lopodoùssa'” [" Lampedusa,  the island of the  ‘Pelaghiai’ "]). In the maps dating back to the fifteenth century (See A. E.  Nordenskjöld, "Periplus", Stockholm, 1897) Lampedusa, Linosa and Lampione are never joined together to form the collective Italian name  "Pelagie." The three islands  were joined together by the great Sicilian historian T.  Fazello (XVI century). However, even after Fazello, other historians and geographers continued to divide the three islands. For example,Abraham Ortelius ( “Thesaurus Geographicus”, Antwerp, ex officina Plantiniana, 1596) stated that the Pelagian Islands are five; also M.A. Baudrand (“Geographia”, ordine litterarum disposita, Parisiis,  1682) and F. Ferrari (“Novum Lexicon geographicum, in quo universi orbis, urbis, regiones, provinciae, regna, maria”, apud Homobonum Bettaninum, 1738, 2 Vol.) continued to repeat that the Pelagian Islands were five.

Thus, among the  ancient and modern geographers there was a great confusion, until they  fully recognized the correctness of the Fazello’s  suggestions, who wrote: "[...] In medio mari inter Cercinam (“Kerkena”) et Siciliam sunt Pelagiae insulae desertae tres, Lampedusa, Lalenusa (Linosa) et Scola [the ancient name of Lampione] (...) Lampedusa earum est maxima [...]" ["In the midst of the sea between Sicily and Kerkena there are three uninhabited islands called ‘Pelagiae’, Lampedusa, Linosa and Lampione (...) The greatest among these is Lampedusa"] (See E. Thomae Fazelli Siculi or.[dine] Praedicatorum, “De rebus Siculis decades duae”, Panormi [Palermo], 1558). Lampedusa, called "Lapadoùssa" by Strabo and Ptolemy, and "Lopadusa" by Pliny, is the largest of the three Pelagian Islands. With regard to its name, it must be noted that it was known over the centuries with many variations, such as Lopadosa, Lapadusa, Lapedosa, Lipidusa, Lipadusa, lampedosa, Lampidusa, Lanbedusa, Leopadusa, Lepadosa, Lampedola, Lepadula, Lampido, Lampas, and  Lampadous. The etymological proposals were equally varied, and someone said that the name derived from the frequency of lightnings, others by "Lepas" (rock) or "lepaios" (rocky).

Other scholars believed that the names of Lampedusa and Lampione derived from "lampas" (“torch”), because in those islands were placed  some lights as a signal for sailors. Kiepert  conjectured a Phoenician word meaning "burn",  a source which he justifies by saying that Lampedusa is essentially volcanic. But the hypothesis does not seem very guessed right, because there is no trace in Lampedusa of volcanoes, because, while Linosa is of volcanic origin, Lampedusa and Lampione are limy soils of sedimentary origin. Instead,  the  assumptions put forward by V. Amico are interesting: "[...] The opinions about the etymology of the name are different; some believe that it comes from the Greek word "rock", "cape", as Lampedusa is plenty of rocks and cliffs, others by a kind of Oyster  called 'patella' [...] (See V. Amico, “Topographical Dictionary of Sicily”, 1858: 581). In fact, the Greeks called the patellas (a small shellfish which abounded among the rocks of Lampedusa) “Lepas-lepados”; thus it is very likely that the Greek name of "Lopadoùssa" derives precisely from the presence of many "lepadoi", with the meaning of "oyster bed."