Pantelleria – Ancient Cossyra
Closer to Tunisia (70 Km) than Sicily (110 Km), Pantelleria was baptized by the Arabs, who have lived for 400 years, Bent el-Rhia, “Daughter of the wind”. At the rugged coastline of lava rocks carved by the waves, it is opposed to the inside covered with vineyards area, from which the renowned Passito or Moscato di Pantelleria is obtained, with figs of india and cultures of capers with intense and penetrating aroma. The landscape is characterized by dammusi, lava stone houses with white domes and light plasters, become the architectural symbol of the island. Inhabited since the third millennium BC thanks to the presence of the obsidian, black gold of prehistory, given its strategic location as a stopping point on the trade routes, is transformed into a true colony by the Phoenicians. Skilled craftsmen were producing amphorae, ceramics and the famous lava millstones the largest of the time and exported throughout the Mediterranean. One of the most magical and fascinating places is certainly the Lake of Venus where the remains of a cult building used in the Punic, Hellenistic and Roman times were found.
The island’s districts are eleven and are easily recognizable by the presence in each one of the church dedicated to the patron saint. The countless rural churches, built from the 1500’s, are real jewels hidden in the landscape of the island. Made using the typical construction technique of dammuso, they have a central nave with barrel cover and often side aisles and an apse with vaulted ceiling. Outside they have a church square bordered by comfortable “ducchene”, brick stone seats, provided with backrests.
The districts, with their circles and churches, represent the true heart of the island, where traditions linked to peasant society still manifest themselves in their most natural essence, tangible examples of past time values and testify to the ability of man to adapt to the environment that hosts him without altering nature.