It is an archipelago compounded by five islands: San Nicola, San Domino, Capraia, Cretaccio and Pianosa.
Just San Nicola and San Domino are inhabitated.
The first island hosts a magnificent abbey.
The second one is bigger and hosts hotels, discos and restaurants.
Around 2/300 people live there during the winter.
We get the ferry in Vieste.
It takes around 2 hours to reach the Tremiti islands, which are roughly 10 miles from Vieste.
Once reached the archipelago, I am hit by the clear sea.
The archipelago is included within the Gargano National Park.
Illyrians moved from the Balkans to inhabitate Tremiti, like the entire Apulia.
The Benedictines named the San Domino island the "Paradise garden" because of the richness of soil.
Every kind of flower flourishes here.
On the top of San Nicola, there is the majestic abbey of Santa Maria a Mare, wonderful example of Romanico-Pugliese.
The Benedictines begun to build up the abbey since the IX century.
However, the abbey became powerful and rich since the XI century.
Charles of Anjou fortified the abbey, which in the 13th century was ruled by the Cistercian order.
The abbey was conquered in 1334 by Dalamatian pirates.
Nowdays, the Tremiti islands are visited by almost 100.000 tourists every year.
Lucio Dalla, a popular Italian artist, who died in 2012, loved the Tremiti islands so much.
Lucio Dalla owned a villa there, where he used to record his songs.
Tremiti hosts a fantastic marine reserve, ideal for those fond of diving
When I was 18, I moved to Tremiti to work as waiter for a restaurant.
I remember that I was so happy because that was the first time I left home for quite a long time.
I was amazed by the fact that people in Tremiti spoke a kind of Neapolitan dialect.
The reason was that the Neapolitan kingdom used to segregate unwanted people there.
Even Sandro Pertini, the most beloved President of the Italian Republic, was segregate there.
He was a socialist, inflexible opponent to the Italian fascist regime.
I dedicate this post to both Lucio Dalla and Sandro Pertini
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