Lipari

The pure white of the pumice quarries

The north-eastern part of the island of Lipari, and in other parts, is covered by a layer of very white pumice . This was emitted by Monte Pilato, a small hill located between the villages of Canneto and Acquacalda, in the Porticello locality.
 le cave di pomiceIn reality, very little remains of Monte Pilato, because it had been the site of pumice mining activities since the 1960s. What remains now of Monte Pilato is a rock face around 200 metres high, white as marble seen from afar. Mining activities were halted in the mid-1990s, shortly before the Aeolian Islands became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.
Pumice has always been a major attraction on the island. From a naturalistic point of view, its white colour creates an almost unreal landscape. Pumice powder, the result of the erosion of the pumice banks of Monte Pilato, also covers the beach below and all the land around it, and obviously the seabed in front of it too, which has taken on a wonderful turquoise colour over time, almost like a natural swimming pool. In this corner of paradise, the only note out of tune are the residues of the pumice industry, which have not yet been disposed of. Though the buildings of the 1960s are a wonderful example of industrial archaeology, the industries of the 1990s have left iron walkways and warehouses, soon to be disposed of.
From a volcanological point of view, the pumices of Lipari are among the most famous in the world for the purity of their colour, due to the involvement of only one magma during the 19th-century eruption of Monte Pilato.

The Gran Cratere of the Fossa

The ancient production of salt

Where do Vulcano’s gases come from?

Salina, the green island with twin mountains

The fumaroles of the port of Vulcano

The polis of the living and the necropolis of the dead

The senses tell Alicudi

Filicudi: small island, big history

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

The Sciara del Fuoco

Stromboli, the volcano that breathes

The salt lake of Lingua

The hidden part of the Aeolian Islands

The pure white of the pumice quarries

Wine, oil and capers, masterpieces of nature and launching pad of the Aeolian economy

The Aeolian Islands, where volcanoes were first studied

Panarea, the island of Stacks

Volcanoes

At the heart of trade in history

Pollara, between poetry and beauty

Seven islands, dozens of volcanoes

Vulcano, the most famous volcano in the world

Alicudi, where time has stood still

The senses tell The prehistoric village of Cala Junco

The Village of Capo Graziano

The senses tell the Lipari Castle

Myths and legends about volcanoes

Lipari Castle, “fused” with lava

Lipari, where history intertwines with volcanoes to create archaeology

The senses tell The summit craters

The senses tell The Stacks of Panarea

Lipari at the centre of Mediterranean history

Seven islands with different faces

The prehistoric village of Cala Junco

The summit craters

Filicudi, a submerged paradise

The senses tell The Gran Cratere of the Fossa

The Stacks of Panarea

The malleability of Vulcano’s mud

The senses tell the port of Vulcano