Tremiti Islands

The Tremiti islands were used to be called the Insulae Diomedae, after the Greek hero Diomedes. A bird called Diomedee, smaller than a seagull, lives here and according to legend they are mourning the death of that valiant warrior Diomedes, who was buried here after the destruction of Troy. It holds that they are no other than the companions-in-arms of Diomedes, whose grief at the warrior's death was so great that Venus turned them into splendid, wailing birds.

The island of Tremiti are a great tourist attraction and every summer attract thousands of tourist from all around the world. The jagged coasts of the three principal islands are full of coves and grottoes, and their beaches descend towards the sea. The archipelago also includes two uninhabited limestone rocks: Il Cretaccio and La Vecchia.

There are three main islands:

The island of San Nicola though the smallest of the three is the administrative area of the Tremiti islands. There here the abbey of S. Maria a Mare, founded by the Benedictines in 1045, whose church built on early medieval foundations was gradually transformed from the XV to the XVIII centuries. Of particular interest is the floor decorated by a magnificent mosaisc of the XI-XII centuries.

The Island of San Domino is the largest and most naturally beautiful of the islands. Its jagged and rocky coast is interspersed with exquisite gorttoes, such the Del Sale, Delle Viole and Delle Murene.

The Island of Capraia has a precipitous, rocky coast and a level summit. It too is full of grottoes, shining with the brilliant reflections of the sea.