Around Linosa
- Trail Conditions: On foot
- Departure: Scalo Vecchio
- Duration: 2-3 hours
The route develops on asphalt or dirt roads and requires an average of 2-3 hours, even if the walking time depends on your legs, curiosity, and the number of stops to admire the unceasing series of different landscapes. The departure is in Scalo Vecchio; from here, climb on the right side of the town of Linosa, going under Mt. Bandiera, which can be easily recognized for the television aerials, and go through the tunnel, which is a short gorge, separating Mt. Vulcano from Mt. Bandiera and leading to the so-called "Fossa del cappellano", whose name derives from the fact that in the past the land was assigned to the local priest. The elliptical and regular shape of the hole is an evidence of the presence of volcanos, like everything else in the island. As a matter of fact, it is the bottom of one of the biggest and most ancient craters of Linosa, which is entirely cultivated and divided into small allotments separated by prickly pear hedges, whose fruits represent the main meal for the cows of the island, and by dry-stone walls protecting the most delicate plants from the wind.
Going ahead, you will reach the location "Puzzu salitu" and farther on, on the left in front of Mt. Rosso, you will find the junction uniting the road leading to Faraglioni and the road to Mannarazza. If you follow the road leading to Faraglioni, you will reach the coast, where you will meet the asphalt road leading on the right to Punta Calcarella and on the left towards Contrada Mannarazza and to the homonymous bay. After Faraglioni, going straight on, you will reach the lighthouse: at about 200m from it there is a large recess in the coast forming a natural swimming-pool linked to the sea through a tunnel. The color of the water is so inviting here, and its irresistible charm will lead you to stop.
Then take the asphalt road, leaving the sea on the right up to Cala Mannarazza: there is a small jetty here, where ships moor when it is impossible to stop at Scalo Vecchio. After this point the road leads again to the hinterland, running along a lava plain rich in fissures where the petrels, the most famous and noisy birds - at night - in Linosa, nest.
