Alicudi () is the westernmost of the seven islands that make up the Aeolian archipelago, a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

island chain north of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. The island is about west of

Lipari Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...

, has a total area of , and is roughly circular.

History

The island was formed by the long-extinct ''Montagnola''

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

, roughly 150,000 years ago. It has been suggested that the last evolutive act of the island took place only 27,000 years ago. The island was first populated as long ago as 17th century BC, as some archaeological evidence from this period has been found.

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

ceramic fragments, dating from many centuries later, can be found on the eastern coast of the island. The modern name of "Alicudi" is descended from the island's

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

name of ''Ereikousa'', derived from ''

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * Erica (plant), ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * Erica (video game), ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * Erica (spider), ' ...

'' (heather) growing on the island’s slopes. For many centuries, Alicudi was the target of frequent incursions by pirates. Consequently, the island’s population was forced to find shelter in small houses constructed on high terraces and also meant that simple agriculture and cultivation of the peach were the foundations of the modest island economy. In more recent times, the island became known for its alleged witches and sorcerers whose explanation has come to be attributed to

ergotism Ergotism (pron. ) is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the '' Claviceps purpurea'' fungus—from the Latin "club" or clavus "nail" and for "head", i.e. the purple club-h ...

in local grain-based foodstuff which, due to scarcity, was consumed regardless of the

fungal A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one of the tradit ...

infection. In 1807, King Ferdinand IV created the title of Count of Alicudi in favor of the Spanish diplomat Alonso de Rivero.

Demography

Today there are around 120 inhabitants who mostly live off fishing, or the small agriculture of the island. There is only one restaurant on the island and the menu depends greatly on what fish the local fishermen have caught, or what food supplies the

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

brings.

Notes and references

External links

About Alicudi

Alicudi web

{{Authority control Frazioni of the Metropolitan City of Messina Stratovolcanoes of Italy Aeolian Islands Pleistocene stratovolcanoes

History

Demography

See also

Notes and references

External links