Salina

The ancient production of salt

At the natural lake of Lingua there are the remains of an ancient salt production plant, which is where the island of Salina takes its name (sale is Italian for salt).
The most significant testimonies date back to the first Roman imperial age, i.e. to the 1st-2nd century AD, of which the lower part of the partition walls, built with the opus reticulatum technique , and the floor, made of poor lime and gravel, remain.
The ancient salt mine exploited this natural inlet created in the south-eastern part of the island. There was a connection with the surrounding sea, which filled the pools, which were then isolated and dried until the salt was deposited. Around 31 grams of pure sea salt is obtained from every litre of sea water.
This technique has not been used since the 18th century with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, when it was replaced by much less laborious and expensive techniques and technologies. The lake has therefore gradually filled up with water to its current state, where it is exactly at sea level. However, it is still perfectly isolated, acquiring the characteristics of a marshland, a protected and important site for bird life.

The underwater morphological elements of the Aeolian Islands

The summit craters

Filicudi: small island, big history

The Gran Cratere of the Fossa: when the volcano becomes a sculptor

The Aeolian Islands, where volcanology was born

The senses tell The Pumice Quarries of Lipari

The Cathedral of Lipari and the Norman Cloister of the Benedictine Monastery

Lipari, where history intertwines with volcanoes to create archaeology

Lipari Castle, “fused” with the lava

The polis of the living and the necropolis of the dead

Vulcano, the youngest of the Aeolian works of art

Myths and legends about volcanoes

“Strombolian” activity in the place where its definition was born

The ancient production of salt

The Thermal Baths of Saint Calogerus

The prehistoric village of Cala Junco

The senses tell The Sciara del Fuoco

The hidden part of the Aeolian Islands

The senses tell The summit craters

The underwater fumarolic activity of Lisca Bianca

The stacks of Panarea

Stories of the sea and shipwrecks. The wrecks of the Aeolian Islands

The 2002-03 eruption

Volcanoes as a natural art form

The senses tell The Village of Capo Graziano

The senses tell The Stacks of Panarea

At the heart of trade in history

“Vulcanian” eruptions

The pure white of the pumice quarries

The salt lake of Lingua

How pumice is formed

Pollara, between poetry and beauty

The Sciara del Fuoco

Malvasia delle Lipari DOC

Where do Vulcano’s gases come from?

The senses tell The salt lake of Lingua

Seven islands, dozens of volcanoes

Alicudi, where time has stood still

Panarea and its history

Filicudi, a submerged paradise

The malleability of Vulcano’s mud

Tsunamis: a not uncommon phenomenon in Stromboli

Stromboli, the volcano that breathes

Panarea, where sea and volcanoes become sculptors

The Village of Capo Graziano

Lipari at the centre of Mediterranean history

Between brush strokes of sulphur and clouds of steam: the fumaroles of the port of Vulcano

Salina, the green island with twin mountains