• Source: Santo Stefano Island

Santo Stefano (Italian: Isola di Santo Stefano) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy, and part of the Pontine Islands. It is roughly circular, with a diameter of less than 400 metres (1,300 feet), and it is located 2 kilometres (1+1⁄4 miles) east of the nearby island of Ventotene.




Overview


Like the rest of the archipelago, the island was created by volcanic activity.
It is dominated by an old prison built by the Bourbons who owned the island, completed in 1797 and in use until 1965. It originally had 99 cells, 4 metres by 4 metres, to house 4 inmates, which were later halved to double the number of cells. The tower in the middle is not a watchtower, but a chapel, where inmates watched the celebration of mass. Built for 600 inmates, it had 800 in 1817 (and 400 on Ventotene). People imprisoned included Carmine Crocco, the most important brigand during the Italian unification, and the anarchist Gaetano Bresci, who killed King Umberto I in 1900. He was imprisoned there for a year before being found hanged in his cell. During the Fascist regime, other prisoners were the future President of Italy Sandro Pertini, Umberto Terracini, Giorgio Amendola, Lelio Basso, Mauro Scoccimarro, Giuseppe Romita, Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi.
In October 1860, part of the Bourbon troops left the island for the siege of Gaeta. During a revolt, some Camorra prisoners proclaimed the Republic of Santo Stefano. The prisoners legislated a statute and remained autonomous until January 1861, when a Navy contingent recovered the island.
The island has been uninhabited since the closure of the prison, except for tourists that visit by boat during the day.
The island has had several names, such as Partenope, Palmosa, Dommo Stephane and Borca since Roman times.
The island, which is partly privately owned, was put up for sale in 2012 for €20,000,000. This did not include the prison, which belongs to the Italian state.
On 26 July 2021, the European Observer reported that a €70 million refurbishment project was to be announced to turn the island into a high-level European think-tank, academy and open-air museum as part of a European integration project.




Wildlife


This island once harbored an endemic lizard, the Santo Stefano lizard (Podarcis sicula sanctistephani). It became extinct in 1965, probably due to feral cats and a snake species.




See also


List of islands of Italy




References






External links


Media related to Santo Stefano (island) at Wikimedia Commons
• Source: Santo Stefano (island)

Santo Stefano (Santu Stefanu in Gallurese; Santu Istèvene in Sardinian) is an island in the Maddalena archipelago of northern Sardinia, Italy, and part of the Maddalena National Park.




Description



The island is largely uninhabited and it is mainly known for its hosting of a NATO Naval Base and Italian Navy ammunition magazines. Apart from the military, the only residence on the island is a tourist resort. The island could be reached only by a private boat.
At the south of the island at the western slope of the Cala di Villamarina, there are remains of old fortifications, namely the Forte San Giorgio and the Forte La Torre. At the eastern slope is an abandoned granite quarry with a giant bust depicting an Italian fascist, Costanzo Ciano, whose work was commissioned by Mussolini himself for Ciano's family mausoleum in Livorno (Tuscany), but has been left unfinished since 1943.




History



From 1973 through 2008, there was a U.S. Naval Support Activity base as well as a NATO base on the island. The NATO base housed an Italian Navy barracks and it served as the home port for several US Navy submarine tenders over the years, beginning in 1972 with the arrival of the USS Fulton (AS-11) followed by the USS Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) in 1973 until 1980, followed by the USS Orion (AS-18) which departed in 1993, followed by the USS Simon Lake (AS-33) from 1993 until 1998 and ending with the departure of the USS Emory S. Land, which set sail for its new home port of Bremerton, Washington. The US Naval Support Activity officially closed in January 2008, ending the 35 year US presence in La Maddalena.
During the period in which the American military had a presence on the island, it was twice used as a repair base for submarines after undersea collisions. In 1977 USS Ray collided with a coral reef off Tunisia and suffered damage to the sonar dome and cracking to the hull. Ray had immediate repairs here, then made a surface transit back to the US. On 25 October 2003 USS Hartford ran aground with sufficient force to substantially damage its rudders, sonar and electronics.




See also


List of islands of Italy




References

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• Linda Lovelace
• Austria-Hungaria
• Santo Stefano Island
• Santo Stefano
• Santo Stefano (island)
• Ventotene
• Santo Stefano lizard
• Gaetano Bresci
• Porto Santo Stefano
• Prison island
• USS Hartford grounding
• Pontine Islands