Capraia together with the islands of Gorgona, Pianosa, Elba, Giglio, Montecristo and Giannutri is part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. The island is accessible by ferries that depart from the port of Livorno, some even calling the island of Gorgona, we suggest to take one of these so you can admire from the sea also Gorgona, an island otherwise difficult to reach.
According to the tradition the Greeks were the first to land in Capraia and gave the island the name of Aegylon, the land of goats (another possible origin of the name is from etruscan word "Carpa" (stony island)). The Phoenicians, Etruscans and Romans followed.
The first settlement was located in the area currently occupied by the village in the vicinity of Fort San Giorgio. Around the tenth or eleventh century B.C. the small settlement was moved inland in a place called "La Piana". Successive arrived on the island, the Phoenicians, Etruscans and Romans. Some remains found on the island of these early settlements are kept in the tower located in the port of Capraia. From the second century B.C. the island comes under Roman control and later became a resort area, this is testified by the remains of a Roman villa found near the port (where is the church of the Assumption). During the Roman period the main settlement remained in "La Piana".
After the fall of the Roman Empire the island was left deserted, then, in the early centuries of Christianity was often used as a hermitage, the monks introduced the cultivation of the grapes, the wine was then extracted through the crushing of grapes in stone basins the "millstones", traces of which are visible in the locality of Reganico (south of the village). It seems that during the Middle Ages the island was heavily populated and the main settlement was always the one of the "La Piana". Capraia was later sacked by the Saracens, in 803, and remained uninhabited for about 200 years.
After 1000 it was occupied from Pisa who kept it until 1403, from this year it became the possession of the Genoese family of Simone de Mari. In 1507 it was under the administration of the Republic of Genoa, and in 1540 Capraia was attacked and plundered by the pirate Dragut who deported the inhabitants into slavery, fortunately for the inhabitants a few days after the pirate was defeated by Giannettino Doria and the people freed. After this event, the Genoese rebuilt the fort of San Giorgio and the Zenobito and Port towers. In 1767 the island was conquered by Pasquale Paoli, but when Corsica was sold to France, Capraia was returned to Genoa. After the Congress of Vienna it became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. With the unification of Italy, since 1873, one third of the island was used as an agricultural penal colony, to which access was forbidden to the rest of the population. Capraia until 1925 was part of the province of Genoa.
Because of his past as a penal colony, the island remains almost intact. In 1986 the penal colony, which then took up almost two thirds of the island was closed. The small port is connected with the village by the only paved road on the island of Capraia. The village, which is dominated by the fortress of San Giorgio, still retains its original character, the Fortress of San Giorgio, solemn and majestic, overlooking the town of Capraia, but unfortunately can not be visited because it is subject to collapse, the first fortification was built by Pisa in the twelfth century, then, in the sixteenth century the Genoese rebuilt it in its present form visible. Other places of historical or cultural interest are the church of the Assumption (Assunzione), the church of San Nicola and the chuech of Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sacro Cuore di Gesù), the church and the Franciscan Monastery of Sant'Antonio (built in 1662), the Church of Santo Stefano alla Piana, the Tower of Zenobito (built in 1516), the Tower of Teja (or Torre della Regina) and Torre del Porto that is located at the port of Capraia, and was built by the Genoese for defense purposes it is still in good condition.
Boat trip around the island of Capraia
Capraia Island Trails: Hiking Route: Village-Stagnone-Monte le Penne |
