USTICA - This beautiful, elliptical-shaped island rises solitary from the deep waters of the lower Tyrrhenian sea and its jagged coastline abounds with caves and ravines. 

Its name, of Roman origin, comes from ustum, meaning burnt and stressing its volcanic origin. Ustica is the surfacing part of a vaster volcanic complex that also includes the underwater mountain Anchise. 

Phoenicians and Romans landed on Ustica but archaeological finds also prove the existence of prehistoric peoples present around the 2nd millennium BC. 

During the Fascist period, the island was a place of forced residence for opponents of the regime, including the Rosselli brothers and Antonio Gramsci. 

The town lies like an amphitheatre overlooking the port of Cala Santa Maria, the only landing place on the island. In 1987, the creation of the marine reserve laid the bases for the protection of a natural heritage of immense value; the remarkably crystal-clear waters, not spoiled by pollution, allow the proliferation of many living animal and vegetable forms, e.g. the vast prairies of Posidonia oceanica.