"The Isle of Lampedusa" a Isola di Lampedusa Travel Page by BarbieGirl

Italian Lampedusa, largest island (area 8 sq mi [21 sq km]) of the Pelagie islands, which include Linosa and Lampione, in the Mediterranean sea between Malta and Tunis, 105 mi southwest of Sicily (Agrigento).
Lampedusa is not a big island. Its surface is 20,2 km2 and its highest point is Albero Sole, 113 m.
Actually there's only a village, named Lampedusa, sited at south-east, near the airport, crowded with 4.000 souls.
In summertime Lampedusa becomes a very crowded place with over 10.000 people.
The island of Lampedusa consists of a flat limestone platform which culminates, at the northern end, in a series of dramatic cliffs.
It is a strip of land full of inlets, sky-blue grottoes and cliffs with an almost lunar appearance that have been sculpted by the perpetual lapping of the waves.
Those who love the sun, clear blue water and wild natural landscapes will find Lampedusa the ideal island for an unforgettable holiday. Since April to October you can be practically sure to find shining days of hot sun and wind is always present everywhere in the island, all day long.
The south coast, on the other hand, is jaggedly rugged as headlands alternate with small, precipitous creeks sheltering sandy beaches.
Closer to Africa than it is to Italy, the island is surrounded by a spectacular seascape, with incredible colors ranging from transparent-blue, to turquoise and emerald-green.
Although you can take deep african breathes everywhere in the island, Lampedusa belongs to Italy and can be considered its southest point.
On the island there is no farming activity, its soil being white, dry and stony, much alike a desert.
The residents mostly live on tourism and fishing, as a considerable flight anchored at its sheltered harbor will testify.
Discoveries across the territory attest to human settlements on Lampedusa dating from the Bronze Age.
In 1843, the island belonged to the aristocratic Lampedusa family (one of its members, Giuseppe Tomasi, was the author of the celebrated novel The Leopard) and was successively acquired by King Ferdinand who had a penitentiary built and sent a handful of people to reside there.
Lampedusa is a paradise for snorkelers and divers who can enjoy a rich and unspoiled submerged world inhabited by corals, sponges, madrepores, the colored parrot-fish and, by Capo Grecale at only 50m depth, the lobster.
Its mostly sandy sea-ground suddenly turns into a dark-green due to the posidonia, a marine plant that is known as the Mediterranean lung for its releasing oxygen in the water, giving life to beautiful underwater plains.
The only city on Lampedusa, bearing the island’s same name, develops around the main Roma street, notably crowded at breakfast time and at night, it hosting a cluster of shops and cafés with outdoor tables, where, in the summer, live music or entertainment shows take place.