Stories of pirates, treasures and mysterious islands have always attracted people. About the island, whose story is similar to a riddle, read in this article.
Location
Monte Cristo Island is part of the Tuscan archipelago. That, in turn, is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea. To be more precise - not far from the Italian coast. It is part of a province called Livorno, which administratively belongs to the Tuscany region.
Monte Cristo Island also has other names, which are translated from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman as “Top of the Mountain” and “Mountain of Jupiter,” respectively. In the language of the ancient Greeks, the name of this natural object sounds like the Announcement, or Color. It was given to him because of the yellowish rocks. The Romans called him My Jovis. They also erected an altar on the highest point of the island in honor of a god named Jupiter.
However, the most common name among Italian residents is “An Island That Doesn’t”. The fact is that very few people from all over the globe have ever visited it.
Nature
The relief is heterogeneous on the territory of this natural object. Rocks are replaced by deep valleys and bays, in which silence reigns. Stones and plants are adjacent to each other: despite the fact that the island is granite, shrubs, flowers, all kinds of herbs and even pine forests grow here.
Monte Cristo Island, the photo of which is presented in this article, is not very large. Its area is 10.39 square kilometers. Its width and length are measured in four and almost three and a half kilometers.
The coastline of this natural site is about sixteen thousand meters, or 16 kilometers. The main part of the coast of the island is inaccessible in order to moor to it. The only place to do this is the Mentor's Bay, located in the western part.
There are a number of high points. The lowest is the Coma dei Lechi - it rises above sea level by only 563 meters. Sima del Coll Fondo has a slightly larger value - 621 meters. And the highest is considered the peak of Monte de Forteza. It is located at an altitude of 645 meters.
History
It is believed that the first inhabitants arrived on the island of Monte Cristo in times dating back to the Iron Age. It was then that this mysterious object of nature received the names given to it by the ancient Greeks and Romans. There is evidence that they once inhabited the island. They consist in the presence of a number of quarries on its territory, used to first extract granite, and subsequently to build up other parts of the archipelago with it.
Already in the middle of the fifth century, the island of Monte Cristo became a refuge for hermits who were hiding from vandals. They gave him a name consonant with the modern: Mon Christie. Since the seventh century, a monastery called San Mamiliano has functioned on its territory. It was this man who lived in the chapel built in honor of his name. Soon the monastery became famous for great wealth, which is why rumors of treasures spread throughout the world. Subsequently, they turned into legends that attracted a pirate named Dragu here. In 1533, under his supervision, the monastery was destroyed, and the island was besieged. People living on it became slaves.
Only in 1852 this place passed into the possession of the Englishman George Watson-Taylor, who used it as a botanical garden. At the same time, the construction of several buildings began. At the end of the nineteenth century, the island was sold to the Italian government. In 1878, a correctional colony was created here, and after its territory was a site for royal hunting. It is known that Victor Emmanuel the Third spent his honeymoon here.
Population
As already mentioned, the island of Count Monte Cristo has a rich history. On its territory lived the ancient Romans and Greeks, Italians and English. He served as a refuge for hermits and monks. For some time, even a member of the ruling Italian family spent here. And all this is the inhabitants of this mysterious island.
Now it is a place where on a permanent basis there are only two people working in the reserve called "Isola di Monte Cristo". It was founded in 1971, since then it has become part of the national park, which bears the same name as the entire archipelago.
It is currently open to the public. No more than a thousand people can get here in a year, and there is a special waiting list. A trip here is worth it: tourists have the opportunity not only to see the sights of this mysterious place, but also to visit the Museum of Natural History and the Botanical Garden.
There are a large number of bans for visitors to the island: you can not swim, fish and surf within a radius of one kilometer from the coast. It is also forbidden to stay here at night and walk around the territory on your own.
Fame
This island became known after the novel of the same name by Alexander Dumas was released. It tells about human feelings, about the difficulties of life in a prison fortress, about wanderings and treasures. Many people are still interested in what is hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. Perhaps someday the world will get an answer to this question.