In the past, the islands were also called "the islands of Diomedes", who is said to have been stranded here after the Trojan War. Administratively, they belong to the Italian region of Puglia and are located 12 nautical miles north of the Gargano Peninsula. The archipelago belongs to the province of Foggia. Since 1989, part of the municipality has been declared a marine nature reserve "Riserva naturale marina Isole Tremiti".In ancient times, the islands were inhabited since the 4th century BC. They were used early as a place of exile. In the Roman Empire, Emperor Augustus banished there the granddaughter Julia the Younger, allegedly for immorality, but probably for participation in a conspiracy against him. The Benedictines played a decisive role in the settlement and reclamation of the Tremiti Islands. According to the Chartularium Tremitense, the monastery was built in the 9th century as an immediate filial monastery of the Benedictine Abbey of Montecassino. The rich library under Abbot Eustasius around 1175 is known through the preserved list of books. In Napoleonic times, followers of the Neapolitan king Joachim Murat occupied the islands and entrenched themselves in the fortress. In 1843 a new colonization took place: Ferdinand II settled poor Neapolitans who could live from the rich fishing grounds around the islands. Therefore, even today the Tremitesi speak a Neapolitan dialect and not an Apulian one.
Adina Sommer
Antique and Contemporary Art
Winzerer Str. 154
80797 München
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