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The Lipari or Aeolian islands are an archipelago of seven volcanic islands, two of them active (Vulcano and Stromboli). The largest of the seven are Vulcano, Lipari and Salina, with Filicudi and Alicudi, west of Lipari, and Panarea and Stromboli to the north-east. All the islands belong to the Messina province and are between 19 to 5o miles from the coast. Their 35.000 inhabitants are split over a surface area of 45 sq mi. The climate is similar to Sicily’s, although much more windy. Legend has it that the god of winds, Eolus, still rules the region, controlling the winds with magic means. Wind erosion and volcanic eruptions have formed rugged, foreboding coastline of inimitable beauty. Inland dry zones alternate with soft green hills covered with sweet –smelling herb bushes that give way to slopes of white pumice or black volcanic rock.

Lipari was first inhabited in 3000 BC from people from the Near East. After which the island appear to have discovered obsidian, which they have mined and sold on a large scale. Examples of that volcanic glass using for making tools have been discovered as far from Lipari as France and Spain. But for reasons unknown, the obsidian trade disappeared around 2300 BC.This period that follows is referred to as the “Aeolian medieval period”, and it is during this time that the island gained importance on the the trade routes connecting Aegean seas. New settlements were formed on Salina, Filicudi, Panarea, Stromboli, and flourished as commercial centre. Bronze Age people apparently attacked the settlements sometime in the 13th century BC, and they were resettled by an Appeninian tribe called Ausonian, who produced bull’s head vessels typical of that time. According to Diodorus Siculus, this was the period in which Liparo, son of the king Ausono of southern Italy, founded a colony on one of the islands, which he named after himself. Somewhat more historically certain is the notion that Greek colonists from Rhodes and Cnidos landed on Lipari on their way home from a failed attempt at colonising the west coast of Sicily in 580BC. Attracted by the rich volcanic soil of the island and welcomed by 500 inhabitants, they decided to stay. The new colony built a fleet to fight the Phoenicians and Etruscan pirates. During the Punic Wars most of Sicily including Lipari, sided with Carthage, and in 251Bc C the Roman force of 60 ships put an end to the “liparis” luck, destroying the island and leaving almost no survivors. From that point on, the history of the Aeolian islands is more or less the same than the rest of Sicily. 836AD saw the arrival of the Saracens, who were in turn driven out by the Normans who built a monastery in Lipari where Count Roger created a Diocese. Two centuries later it was looted by the pirate Khair er-Din Barbarossa, commander of a fleet of 140 ships and the inhabitants were deported as slaves. Charles V of Spain rebuilt Lipari and repopulated the island, which was annexed to the kingdom of Sicily in 1610. The recent history has been a hard one. Until about 50 years ago the inhabitants struggled to maintain a basic survie level, fishing tending vines and mining pumice. During the past 50 years, a great number of people has emigrated, either to the mainland, Australia and U.S.A.

Lipari

It is the largest island in the archipelago (145sq mi) and has 12.000 inhabitants. It was the main centre for obsidian in the Antiquity and is today the main Italian producer for pumice stone. Geologically it is the most complex of the islands, although there has been no known major volcanic eruption here, there is evidence of post volcanic activity: smoke and gas emanations, sulphur and hot springs. Lipari is the capital of the archipelago and a lively little town, dominated by a natural promontory known as “il Castello” which is located between the two ports, “Marina lunga” used for ferries and large boats and “Marina corta” for hydrofoils and small boats. The Castle is a vast, steep lava rock that was inhabited in prehistoric times. You can climb up to it from Marina lunga by the stairway that begins at Piano della Civita and ends at Piazza Municipio, and passes by the ancient Greek walls. There are threemain churches on top of the hill: “ Santa Caterina”, “Addolorata” and “Immacolata”. The archeological zone spreads out before them. It has been excavated to reveal superimposed layers of dwellings buildings, huts and roads from various periods spanning the Bronze age, (Capo Graziano culture), through to Hellenistic and ancient Roman times.

The Cathedral stands also on the same Castle area. It was built in the 11th century by the Normans, it was rebuilt in the 13th century and then altered inside in 1654. The façade dates from 1861. the baroque interior is adorned with frescoes and paintings which in the nave, illustrate scenes from the Old Testament. A rich altar to the left of the choir holds an unusual silver statue of Saint Barthlemy, Patron Saint of the island.
The Archeological Museum is located in several buildings around the Cathedral. In the first part of the museum there are mainly finds from the four phases of the Aeolian Neolithic era (from the 4th to the 2nd millennium BC), the bronze age and the Ausonian civilization (1250 to 800 BC ) as well as objects from Milazzo. In the second part you can see necropolises from the middle of the bronze age, such as the one discovered in May 1952, at Sottocastello, which has been faithfully reconstructed. There are also some important collections of local pottery and miniature masks made of terracotta. During the second half of the 4th century B C there was a flourishing school of renowned potters on Lipari. The artists drew their inspiration from the theatre of the day to produce masks of comic and tragic characters. The collection of kraters ( Greek jars) is no less fascinating. One of them illustrates an episode of Odissey. Another representing Dyonisus watching actors and a nude acrobate is attributed to the painter Assteas. The most famous Greek painter has been identified with the “Painter of Lipari” (4th century BC”).

Vulcano

The island has often changed its name during the centuries and, according to the legend, is the dwelling of Eolus the god of the winds. It has a population of less than 500 and a surface of 8 sq mi. Geologically interestingly the island consists of different volcanic formations all knitted together. The largest of these, Vulcano vecchio, takes up the entire southeast part of the island. The craters of Mount Aria, 1600 ft, and Saraceno 1450 ft, have been extinct since prehistoric days; only Fossa di Vulcano 1266 ft, also known as “Grande cratere” is still active. Fossa di Vulcano is worth a climb. You can take the path from down hill and it will take you about 50 minutes to get to the top. The vast regular crater with its diameter of about 1640 ft, has multicoloured sides where sulphur yellow predominates. The last eruption took place in the end of the last century, when large quantities of volcanic bombs known as “bread crusts”, were thrown sky high. Vulcanello is a small volcano, which rose out of the sea in about 180 BC and its lava flows, formed the isthmus of black and linking it to Vulcano.

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