La Perla Nera dell’Europa, The Black Pearl of Europe, as Pantelleria is known, is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. Its diminutive size and remote location—halfway between Sicily and Tunisia—serve to maintain this secrecy, which goes back at least as far as Homer’s Odyssey: legend has it that it was in Pantelleria’s Punto di Sataria where Calypso kept Odysseus hostage for seven years. A sea-cave with natural hotsprings within, there are worse places to be held captive. Presumably, Calypso would have let Odysseus stretch his legs every once in a while, leaving the cave to explore the island's many other natural wonders—Lo Specchio di Venere (the Mirror of Venus), a crater lake heated by sulfur springs below, where Venus prepared for her dates with Bacchus, god of wine (including Pantelleria’s sweet Zibbibo variety); La Grotta di Benikulà, a natural sauna within Pantelleria’s tallest peak, La Montagna Grande; and Il Piano di Ghirlanda (The Garland Plain), a brilliantly green field dotted with orchards and vineyards that stretches across Pantelleria’s largest crater. Pantelleria is also home to two unique manmade wonders: the Sesi, stone tombs that date from 4000 years ago, and the Dammusi, small one-or-two room lava stone huts with white-domed roofs and thick walls, which were designed by their Arab builders to conserve rainwater (the only fresh water on Pantelleria) and keep cool in the summer, warm in the winter. Today, many Dammusi are available for rent. Pantelleria’s cuisine is also worth mentioning. The Arabs that came here centuries ago were masters of agriculture, and the island’s volcanic soil proved a good match for their advanced techniques. Pesto pantesco is a sauce made from tomato, basil, garlic, almonds, and the capers for which Pantelleria is particularly famous. |
