Gorgona Island is the smallest and most northerly of the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, measuring just over 2km² and being occupied by just 300 people. Despite its tiny size, the island has a rich and varied history. Set in the rich blue sea off the Tuscan coast, it rises as a craggy formation from the water, covered in plants. In fact, over 90% of the island is covered in Mediterranean bush and is home to over 400 species of different plant-life. The water is also left untouched by mankind, as the sea around the island is protected, and is particularly clear and vibrant as a result. If you want to visit this little gem in the Ligurian sea, just find yourself a pretty vacation rental in Livorno nearby and take the trip out to Gorgona Island for a day.
Gorgona was probably first inhabited by the Etruscans and was certainly occupied by the Romans for a period, as testified by the ruins of a building in the Piano dei Morti. During the middle ages Benedictine and Cistercian monks both built monasteries on the island and occupied it. Then, in 1283, the island came under the control of Pisa. The grand old tower on the island remains as evidence of this time and the fortifications come from the time of the Medici from 1406. The Certosini then remained in control until 1777, when Grand Duke and Holy Roman Emperor Pietro Leopoldo took the island and tried unsuccessfully to repopulate it. It became an agricultural penal colony in 1869 and has been made into a natural park in recent years.
The cooperative of said natural park organises tours out to the island as it is protected and still a functioning prison and cannot be visited otherwise or unescorted. Visits are on the first Tuesday of the month when small groups are taken by a patrol boat from a ferry on service between Leghorn, Capraia and Elba. The tour includes the most suggestive places of the coasts, among them Cala Scirocco and Cala Martina and the areas covered by the Mediterranean bush which is a shelter for the wild rabbits, gulls, birds of passage and sea swallows.
For a rather different tour of the Tuscan coast, this corner of Livorno is quite special.
For a rather different tour of the Tuscan coast, this corner of Livorno is quite special.
Photo credits
picture 1: Pierre Bona / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 2: Giovanni Spinozzi / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 3: Conan / CC BY 2.0
picture 1: Pierre Bona / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 2: Giovanni Spinozzi / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 3: Conan / CC BY 2.0
