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Pantelleria (), the ancient ''Cossyra'' (Maltese: ''Qawsra'', now ''Pantellerija'', Ancient Greek ''Kossyra'', Κοσσύρα), is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and just east of the Tunisian coast that can even be spotted in the distance on clear days. Administratively Pantelleria is a ''comune'' belonging to the Sicilian province of Trapani. With an area of , it is the largest volcanic satellite island of Sicily. The last eruption occurred in 1891 below sea level, and even today phenomena related to volcanic activity can be observed, such as hot springs and fumaroles. The highest peak, called ''Montagna Grande'', reaches above sea level == History == Archaeological evidence has unearthed dwellings and artifacts dated at 35,000 years old. The original population of Pantelleria did not come from Sicily, and was of Iberian or Ibero-Ligurian stock. After a considerable interval, during which the island probably remained uninhabited, the Carthaginians took possession of it (no doubt owing to its importance as a station on the way to Sicily) probably around the beginning of the 7th century BC, occupying as their acropolis the twin hill of San Marco and Santa Teresa, south of the town of Pantelleria. The town has considerable remains of walls made of rectangular blocks of masonry, and also of a number of cisterns. Punic tombs have also been discovered, and the votive terra-cottas of a small sanctuary of the Punic period were found near the north coast. The Romans occupied the island as the Fasti Triumphales record in 255 BC, lost it again the next year, and recovered it in 217 BC. Under the Empire it served as a place of banishment for prominent persons and members of the imperial family. The town enjoyed municipal rights. In 700 the Arabs conquered the island and named it ' 'the daughter of the winds', which represents the strong winds that arise off the north coast of Africa. In 1123 Roger of Sicily took the island, and in 1311 an Aragonese fleet, under the command of Lluís de Requesens, won a considerable victory here. Requesens's family became princes of Pantelleria until 1553, when the Turks captured the island. A naval battle took place close to the island in July 1586 when an armed English merchant fleet of five ships managed to repel an attack by eleven Spanish and Maltese galleys. A Siculo-Arabic dialect similar to Maltese was the vernacular of the island until the late 18th century, when the Romance Sicilian superseded it. However, the modern Sicilian language in Pantelleria contains many Arabic loanwords and most of the island's place names are of Semitic origin. Pantelleria's capture was regarded as crucial to Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 as planes based on Pantelleria could readily reach Sicily. In Operation Corkscrew the Allies bombarded Pantelleria heavily from both air and sea in the days before the scheduled invasion; the garrison finally surrendered as the landing troops were approaching. Pantelleria then played a part as a vital base for Allied aircraft during the assault on Sicily. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pantelleria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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