Lavezzi archipelago

Lavezzi archipelago
Native name: Îles Lavezzi
Lavezzi archipelago, satellite view
Geography
Location Strait of Bonifacio (Tyrrhenian Sea)
Coordinates 41°21′36″N 9°15′08″E / 41.359932°N 9.252205°E / 41.359932; 9.252205Coordinates: 41°21′36″N 9°15′08″E / 41.359932°N 9.252205°E / 41.359932; 9.252205
Administration
Department Corse-du-Sud

The Archipelago of Lavezzi (French: Îles Lavezzi; Corsican: Isuli Lavezzi; Italian: Isole di Lavezzi) is a collection a small of granite islands and reefs in the Strait of Bonifacio that separates Corsica from Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. They are administered from the town of Bonifacio (French department of Corse-du-Sud) on Corsica.

Geography

A lighthouse at the Lavezzu island
Lavezzu, a signpost with the name of the island

The archipelago is located in about 4 kilometres (2 miles) from the Corsican mainland, 7 km (4 mi) from Cape Pertusato, and 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Bonifacio. It covers 5,123 ha in area and the highest point is 50 metres (164 feet). They include the southernmost point of Metropolitan France.

The two main islands are Cavallo (112 ha), the only inhabited island in the archipelago, and Lavezzu (Italian: Lavezzo, 66 ha), just on the south of Cavallo. The other islands or islets are, from left to right: Piana, Ratino, Porraggia and Sperduto (or Perduto).[1]

History

The archipelago was the site of the shipwreck of the French frigate Sémillante on February 15, 1855. On the island of Lavezzu there are two memorial cemeteries with the remains of the victims of the shipwreck.[2]

These islands were also the locale for Brigitte Bardot's 1952 film Manina, la fille sans voiles.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jean-François Cubells, Michele Ferrandini, Jean Ferrandini, Jean-Baptiste Orsini, Élisabeth Pereira (2012). L’Extrême-Sud (PDF) (in French). CNDP–CRDP de Corse. p. 22. ISBN 9782866202927. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-12-14.
  2. ↑ "Les îles Lavezzi | Chemins de Mémoire" (in French). Ministère de la Défense.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.