Capraia is an Italian island, the northwesternmost of the seven islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, and the third largest after

Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...

and Giglio. It is also a ''comune'' ( Capraia Isola) belonging to the

Province of Livorno The province of Livorno () or, traditionally, province of Leghorn, is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It includes several islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, including Elba and Capraia. Its capital is the city of Liv ...

. The island has a population of about 400.

Geography

Capraia is from the city of

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

by sea, and northwest of the island of Elba; it is slightly closer, at , to the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. The island is accessible by ferries that depart from the port of Livorno. Capraia is of

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 ...

origin, has an area of and its highest point is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It is about long (from Punta della Teglia to Punta dello Zenobio) and about wide. It has a coastline that is about in circumference. The island is part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park and marine sanctuary. There is a tiny lake on the island, called Stagnone della Capraia. The island's small harbour, Porto di Capraia, is connected to the village by the one and only asphalted road on the island. The village, dominated by the Fortress of St George, preserves its original characteristics unaltered. Sites of tourist interest include the Church of the Assunta, the Church of St Nicola and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church and Convent of St Antonio, and the Church of St Stefano alla Piana. The Fortress is not open to visitors. The island produces wine, and is a centre of the

anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the Family (biology), family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 speci ...

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

. About to the north is the island of Gorgona, which is also famous for its anchovies. In the summer the island is also a popular stopping point for yachts sailing between Livorno, Elba, and Corsica.

History

The

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

called the island ''Aegylon'' or ''Aegyllion'' (''Αίγυλλον'' Greek for Rocky Island, often mistaken with "Goat place", see also Giglio). Its current name may have originated in the Etruscan ''carpa'' (stone), a word that comes from the archaic Greek ''Kalpe'' (sepulchral stone). The Romans called the island Capraria, name morphing often mistaken to reflect the presence of wild goats (, or Greek: ''capros'' κάπρος, wild boar), while it actually was meant to indicate a rocky island, "a place for goats". In the 4th century AD it housed a

cenobium Cenobitic (or coenobitic) monasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of prece ...

, where the church of St. Stephen now stands. The early 5th century poet Rutilius recorded that the island was "a mess" and that there were many monastic communities by his time. In 1055 it was raided by

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

pirates, and later the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

owned it. It became part of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

after the Battle of Meloria, being assigned to the patrician Jacopo de Mari (1430). In 1540 the Genoese built the ''Forte San Giorgio'' on a pre-existing fortification that the Ottoman corsair Turgut Reis had demolished. The Genoese also built three coastal watch towers (part of a system of Genoese towers) to protect against pirates. The three are: * ''Torre del Porto'' (1541), which protected the entrance to the harbour, and which replaced or added to an earlier tower dating to 1510; * ''Torre dello Zenobito'' (1545); and * ''Torre delle Barbici'' (1699), also known as Torre della Teja or Torre della Regina. It is the only tower with a square shape, which makes it somewhat similar to the De Redin towers on

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. Torre delle Barbici is in a fairly dilapidated state. Since 2009 a path connects it to the port. In 1767 troops under

Pasquale Paoli Filippo Antonio Pasquale de' Paoli (; or ; ; 6 April 1725 – 5 February 1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who was at the forefront of resistance movements against the Republic of Genoa, Genoese and later Kingd ...

of the new independent

Corsican Republic The Corsican Republic () was a short-lived state on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. It was proclaimed in July 1755 by Pasquale Paoli, who was seeking independence from the Republic of Genoa. Paoli created the Corsican Constitutio ...

occupied Capraia. It was captured during the

French conquest of Corsica The French conquest of Corsica was a successful Expeditionary warfare, expedition by French Army, French forces of the Kingdom of France under the Noël Jourda de Vaux, Comte de Vaux, against Corsican forces under Pasquale Paoli of the Corsican R ...

, but returned to Genoa and detached from Corsica under the terms of the

Treaty of Versailles (1768) The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty concluded on 15 May 1768 at Versailles between the Republic of Genoa and France, in which Genoa ceded Corsica to France. Corsica had been ruled by Genoa since 1284. In the 18th century, Corsicans started t ...

. In 1796 the British, under Admiral Lord

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

, occupied the island for a short time, following the creation of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom. After the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

in 1815 annexed the Republic of Genoa to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

, Capraia became part of the

province of Genoa The province of Genoa () was a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Genoa. It was replaced by Metropolitan City of Genoa. Overview It has an area of and a total population of about 0.9 million (2009). There are ...

. Then in 1925, it was assigned to Livorno. Between 1873 and 1986 a penal colony occupied almost two-thirds of Capraia. In 1986 the government closed the penal colony and opened the island to visitors.

References

External links

Capraia Isola — Tourist informationCapraia Isola: News
{{authority control Islands of Tuscany Arcipelago Toscano National Park Volcanoes of Italy Capraia Isola

Geography

History

See also

References

External links