Arbatax (; ) is the largest hamlet (''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'') of Tortolì,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with a population of almost 5,000 inhabitants.

History

The origin of the name Arbatax is uncertain. According to german linuist Max Leopold Wagner, it is derived from an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word, which means "14th Tower", and refers to the nearby watchtower built by the Spaniards to protect the territory from the incursion of Arab pirates. This theory is nowadays denied because it has no logical coherence and no historical or cultural connection with Sardinia: the linguist Massimo Pittau believes that it derives from the Latin ''arbutus'', "strawberry tree", a common plant in the area and which gave rise to other Sardinian toponyms, since the location in the Sardinian language is written Arbatassa not Arbatax. Massimo Pittau, Luoghi e toponimi della Sardegna , Dublin, Ipazia books, 2018, p. 53, ISBN 978-1-9809-3360-1. https://books.google.it/books?id=c91XDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA53&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false The founders of Arbatax were

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

n fishermen from the island of

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italy, Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina ...

, located in

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, close to the coast of the Italian Peninsula. The location assumed importance in the 1960s after the construction of the main Sardinian

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

Geography

The town is situated by the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

, 5 km east of Tortolì.

Climate

Transport

The port is used by ferries to and fro Civitavecchia and

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

, and is also monopolized by the marine construction company Intermare, which builds gas rigs and vessels. The marina is one of the cheapest in Sardinia. The town is connected to Lanusei and

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

by a narrow gauge railway, today used for touristic purposes, owned by Ferrovie della Sardegna. The closest airport is the Tortolì Airport, about 4 km from the town.

Economy

Today, the economy is focused on tourism and industry. Arbatax is home to a factory dedicated to the building of

oil platforms An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms wi ...

, controlled by the Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem. Mussels are farmed in the nearby lagoon and fresh fish are on sale from the fishing cooperative. The red rocks are a tourist attraction.

Gallery

File:JANAS 27-09-2005 ARBATAX (1).jpg, Image:Sardinien arbatax Turm.jpg, Image:Sardinien arbatax 031006 07.jpg, Image:Arbatax red rocks.jpg, Image:Arbatax red rocks detail.jpg,

History

Geography

Climate

Transport

Economy

Gallery

See also

References

External links