Italea
descrizione immagine

Route length 2 days

Aeolian Islands, in the places of emigration that have become UNESCO heritage sites

descrizione immagine

The experience

Tra Lipari e Salina: mare, tramonti e degustazioni ripercorrendo le tracce degli avi 

 

La leggenda delle donne pescatrici che facevano volare magicamente le loro barche, la memoria degli uomini che lavoravano alle cave di pomice dell’isola di Lipari, i filari di vino Malvasia, gli echi cinematografici che qui risuonano a ogni angolo: dalle passeggiate di Pablo Neruda nel film Premio Oscar “Il Postino” all’infuocata passione tra Ingrid Bergman e Roberto Rossellini che si consumava dietro le scene di “Stromboli”. 

Benvenuti alle Isole Eolie, le “sette sorelle” patrimonio Unesco, una più bella dell’altra, benvenuti a quest’arcipelago riconosciuto dall’Unesco patrimonio dell’umanità che oggi è un paradiso per i turisti, ma che nell’ultimo decennio dell’Ottocento vide un’emigrazione di massa, determinata principalmente dalla crisi della commercializzazione della pomice a Lipari, e dall’arrivo della fillossera, che nel giro di pochi mesi distrusse quasi tutti i vigneti preziosi di Salina.

Si fuggiva dall’isolamento, dalla povertà, da quel mare che sembrava prigione. Si fuggiva per cercare una vita migliore verso l’Australia, l’Argentina, il Brasile, gli Stati Uniti e il Canada. A raccontare quest’epopea oggi c’è, sull’isola di Salina, il Museo eoliano dell’Emigrazione, nato nel 1999, dove i visitatori delle radici avranno la possibilità di prendere parte a un percorso narrativo che racconta addii, speranze, sofferenze, gioie, nostalgia, integrazione, sconfitte, successi, riscatto. 

Una visita che consentirà di accedere a una ricca collezione di oggetti e carte originali, documenti, lettere, documentari, fotografie, abiti ingialliti dal tempo, valigie, diari, giornali, biglietti, passaporti, preziosi materiali sulla vita delle società. Tutte queste testimonianze rappresentano la memoria delle massicce emigrazioni e raccontano alle generazioni future un tassello importante della storia degli eoliani nel mondo. La consulenza di studiosi che hanno dedicato la loro vita alle ricerche genealogiche consentirà di approfondire le singole storie familiari.

 

Intorno è il paradiso: un mare cristallino, tramonti mozzafiato, profumi e sapori unici. Lipari, la “capitale” delle Eolie, custodisce uno dei più bei musei archeologici del Mediterraneo, sulla sua rocca. 

Salina è un’isola diversa da tutte le altre: indipendente dal resto dell’arcipelago, dominata dai quasi mille metri del Monte Fossa delle Felci, è divisa in tre minuscoli Comuni che hanno ciascuno un loro carattere preciso: la più animata Santa Marina Salina con la poetica frazione di Lingua dove è d’obbligo una passeggiata verso il faro e il laghetto di acqua salmastra separato dal mare da una sottile striscia di terra; la splendida Malfa, immersa nel verde dei capperi e dei vigneti, con i suoi ristoranti gourmet e la frazione di Pollara da cui si gode un tramonto mozzafiato; la più nascosta Leni, su in alto in collina, che scende poi fino al mare con il suo borgo adagiato sulla spiaggia di Rinella.

Un’oasi verde, incontaminata, lontana dalla frenetica vita moderna, Salina offrirà ai visitatori la possibilità di riconnettersi con una natura lussureggiante, gelosamente custodita dagli isolani, con la terra che offre prodotti di altissimo livello. Capperi, vini d’eccellenza, malvasia, tradizioni.

In a few words

Unesco Heritage
Nature
Sea
Sunsets
Museums
Tastings
Walks

Tour

SALINA

The discovery of the island will begin with a guided tour of the Aeolian Museum of Emigration. Every museum is a place of memory, but the museum of emigration is even more so. It provides an opportunity to remember how we were, reflect on the past and also understand the migrations of the present. Visitors will have the opportunity to take part in a narrative journey capable of reading the migration experience with a before and after in relation to the departure event.

It tells about the journey of life, the one that takes you out of the comfort zone of family ties in search of dignity to escape from misery. Adios, hopes, sufferings, joys, nostalgia, integration, defeats, successes, redemption. The museum describes all these emotions of life by recalling the transoceanic emigration of Aeolians who, between the 19th and 20th centuries, dramatically left the archipelago to seek their fortunes in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Canada. The arrangement follows a chronological criterion and allows for a 360-degree reading of the migration experience. Exposes what has been generously donated by islanders and Aeolian communities about the migration experience.

A visit that will provide access to a rich collection of original objects and papers, documents, letters, documentaries, photographs, time-worn yellowed clothes, suitcases, diaries, newspapers, tickets, passports, valuable materials on the life of the societies. All these testimonies represent the memory of the massive emigrations and tell future generations an important piece of the history of Aeolians around the world.

After this dip in memory, the tour will continue with an itinerary entirely dedicated to the local product of excellence, the caper, with the “Salina Capers Tour.” A local expert, together with farmers, will introduce visitors to the processes of processing and transformation, leading up to product tasting. Before the advent of tourism, in fact, the caper was one of the cornerstones of the Aeolian economy. With antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunoprotective properties, it is an excellent natural remedy. From the caper plant one eats not only the buds, that is, the capers, but also the fruits, the “cucunci.” The Salina caper festival is celebrated every year on the first Sunday in June. Numerous tasting booths are set up during the occasion, with a wide range of caper dishes and other local products, including Malvasia. Industry professionals and the local community, year in and year out, strive to celebrate local products and offer visitors delicacies for the palate at this festival.

Free lunch on the excursion. After lunch, a nice walk, with a local guide, will lead to the discovery of the Punta Lingua lighthouse, a hamlet of Santa Maria Salina, where the Romans built a salt extraction plant, giving rise to the island’s name. A sensational sight, a corner of paradise, where lush nature puts on a show. Just from the Lighthouse it will be possible to catch a glimpse of the nearby islands of Lipari, Panarea and Stromboli. But in warm weather, there will be a chance for a dip from the pebble beach of Lingua. At the end of the walk, a fresh almond and mulberry granita, celebrated as among the best in Sicily, is a must. The dinner will lead to meetings with young restaurateurs who have invested here, choosing not to leave and making Salina’s products great ambassadors for the area. Not to be missed is the ricotta granita with eolian caper garnish. Overnight stay.

Experience Optional

An exceptional wine experience in Salina with a visit to a farm of excellence. Visitors can enjoy a tasting tour in the garden, based on local products; sun-dried tomatoes, capers, cheeses accompanied by orange and fig marmalades, while sipping excellent wines and local wines such as the highly appreciated Malvasia. An unmissable treat, an unmissable culinary and sensory experience.

descrizione immagine

LIPARI

The day begins with a tour of the historic center, including amazing churches and scenic viewpoints. The tour will continue with a visit to the Luigi Bernabò Brea Regional Archaeological Museum, dedicated to the leading figure in 20th-century archaeology. The museum exhibits some of the most important finds in the entire central-western Mediterranean basin. It is headquartered in the Castle, a natural fortress that dominates the town and preserves within it seven thousand years of history evidenced by artifacts of rare beauty such as the museum’s icon, the crater of “Dionysus and the Acrobat” dating back to the fourth century B.C. A journey to the roots of Mediterranean civilization. The rich tour takes in several buildings (the seventeenth-century Bishop’s Palace, the Acunto houses, the twentieth-century buildings) and is divided into six sections. Also very interesting are the collections devoted to underwater archaeology with artifacts found on the seabed of the Aeolian islands.

In the afternoon we move on to Pollara, where visitors can enjoy an atmospheric tasting in front of an unforgettable sunset. The sun dipping into the sea, a journey of unique emotions, to be experienced and photographed. Excellent local wines will be accompanied by tastings of traditional products. Dinner and overnight stay.

Optional experience: sunset visit to the Postman's House

Can you tell about the house in the film Il postino, on the island of Salina? “When you explain it,” Pablo Neruda/Philippe Noiret would say to Massimo Troisi, “poetry becomes banal. Better than explanations is the direct experience of emotions.” So here is an experience in Pollara, in the northwest of the island, amid the green of capers and olive trees, grown on the fertile soil nourished by ancient volcanoes. The pink-plastered house featured in the film, owned by artist Pippo Cafarella who created this unique color using wine must, is located here. The ruggedness of the overhanging rock, the stacks, the deep blue expanse of the sea fading into the horizon, in front of an unforgettable sunset.

descrizione immagine
start now

Let us guide you on your journey to the Roots

Don't miss the opportunity to explore the places that have shaped your origins, request a tailor-made itinerary without obligation