Formerly Bent el-Rhia, in Arabic “daughter of the wind”, Pantelleria is the place where man is the exclusive guest of nature.
Legend has it that one day, on the coast of Africa, a sweet little girl and her beloved elephant decided to embark on a journey. Aboard a raft, they set sail enthusiastically out to sea, when suddenly, with an explosion, they saw a new island rising from the waters. When they reached the new-born shore, the elephant dipped his trunk in the sea to allow his friend to plunge into the crystal-clear waters. It was at that moment that the volcano erupted again and the elephant and the girl became two eternal rocks. Since
then, their friendship has been kept in the heart of the island.
Today, that island is Pantelleria, halfway between Sicily and Tunisia: in Cala Tramontana, a scenic bay with an enchanting seabed, it is still possible to admire the suggestive Arch of the Elephant next to the sea stack, the symbol of the last joyful dive of the sweet little girl. But if the legend fascinates, nature enchants even more. Pantelleria is an open-air temple of well-being, shaped by fire, born of the waters and touched by a wind that smells of Africa. Being the undisputed kingdom of exuberant nature, the island offers numerous mineral springs and natural saunas, gifts of the volcano that lies deep within. Not to be missed is the emblematic Lake Specchio di Venere (Venus’s Mirror), once the goddess of beauty’s favourite mirror before her encounters with her lover Bacchus. Today, the enchanting lake pampers bathers with
its warm waters, rich in minerals and its thermal mud. Niká and Gadir are further stunning evidence of the hot earth breathe, where natural thermal springs meet salty sea waters. Or even the spectacular Sataria Cave, on the island’s southern coast: that is an oasis of well-being, the legendary stage of the encounters between the nymph Calypso and the divine Ulysses in the great Odyssey. It is an all-Mediterranean Iceland, where the vigorous waters make fine laceworks over the lava cliffs, creating, from time-to-time, small, secluded bays that reveal their charm only to those who land there from the sea. Pantelleria is a great little crib of white dammusi, the typical Arab buildings
with domed roofs, of green valleys and fertile fields. The soul of the island is the immense National Park, in which the scented zibibbo vine, the impressive favare and the evocative Sesi, megalithic tombs dating back to the mists of time, coexist beautifully. In this subtle alchemy between history, myth and nature, since Homer, the black rocks of the island have been speaking to men. And it was the famous Gabriel Garcia Marquez who wrote: “I don’t think there is a more suitable place in the world to think about the moon. But Pantelleria is more beautiful”.