Ustica

Like a hat, it floats in a tropical Mediterranean that paints even the dark earth blue, speckled with Mediterranean shrubs, with rare shadows cast by olive and almond trees, bathed in the scent of broom. An island of myths and mysteries, Ustica was an ancient refuge for mankind since prehistoric times, a hideout for Saracen ambushes, the scene of shipwrecks on the steep coastline with its impressive and evocative caves set into the rock, then a terrible confinement for political dissidents, and finally a protected marine paradise. The surroundings are blue, as is the detail of certain parts of the settlement, as if it were a dutiful quotation, a “recall” of the Mediterranean expanse visible everywhere.