EXCURSION ON PIANOSA ISLAND
Want to see all the realities and the beauty of the island?

Elbaservizi takes care of your bus trip on the island of Pianosa. You can book your bus trip in the agencies that organize trips to Pianosa. Once in Pianosa, all you need to do is get on the bus and enjoy a complete and exciting excursion!
The bus leaves from the pinewood, which is opposite to the "Muro Dalla Chiesa"
Beyond the old walls of the former prison, we find what is called the heart of the island up to the northern part of the castle of the Marquis and the beautiful bay of Porto Romano.

Along the dirt roads of Pianosa, flanked by superb sea and land scenery we can also see the prison facilities. The guide will explain the natural beauty and tell us about the history of the agriculture and of the prison on Pianosa. The trip also includes viewing the beautiful sight from the Belvedere and the sight of the prison facilities of Sembolello and ofAgrippa (41a)

MAP OF THE ROUTE

Curiosity on Pianosa Island
Legend has it that the islands of the Tuscan Arcipelago have originated from the pearls that slipped off Venus’ neck, the goddess of beauty and love, and fell into the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. In this myth lies some part of truth, because there is no doubt that the islands are part of paradise.

Pianosa is the lowest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, almost a plateau at its highest point it measures 29 meters above sea level. It is located at about 14 km S-SW from the coast of the island of Elba and about 27 km S-SE from the southern island of Montecristo. Its the singular shape makes it look like a T-bone steak. The island has an area of ​​10.25 sq km and 26 km of coastal extension and is included in the Municipality of Campo nell’Elba. Although it is not high the island has rocky shores with presence of cliffs, especially on the western side and very few beaches.

Inhabited since ancient times, Pianosa is inextricably linked to events in Roman history. In more modern times Pianosa is associated with the presence of the prison. While this has also brought benefits to residents (with the arrival of drinking water and other benefits) on the other hand it has always placed the island in a state of profound isolation.

Pianosa retains some Paleolithic caves in Punta Secca and Cala Giovanna, but its archaeological treasure is represented mainly by the catacombs that narrate of early Christian civilization: this is a monumental complex that dates back to the III - IV century BC, when the Christian prisoners victims of imperial persecution, were sentenced to work in the tuff caves of the island. Thanks to recent restoration work, the public is now allowed to visit. On the promontory of the Teglia, facing the marina, stands the fort built by Napoleon. It stands above the nineteenth-century small town where the prison management and the employees' homes were established. The Emperor is the mind behind the majority of the urban works on Pianosa, which testify his eclectic cultural mix of patterns with oriental decors and medieval and renaissance taste. The beautiful Cala Giovanna leads to the only remaining Roman ruins on the island, the baths and the villa of Agrippa. The huge wall that stands behind Cala Giovanna, the only sandy crescent of the island overlooking a sea of ​​brilliant colors, was built by order of theGeneral Dalla Chiesa in the years of crisis , when the maximum security prison of Pianosa housed mobsters and terrorists.

The morphology of Pianosa is radically different than other Tuscan islands because of its particular genesis: completely free of bumps, it consists mainly of sedimentary rocks and accumulation of shells that depict forms and colors to be found nowhere in other corners of our sea . Not to be missed is the view that opens onto the beautiful bay of Porto Romano gaining the northern tip of the island, behind the ruins of the Marquis. Equally impressive are the colors of the reef that connects Punta del Marchese and Punta Libeccio, where the shades of yellow, ocher and ivory hide marine fossils that have remained imprisoned in the ages. The intact nature of the cliffs hide a hinterland profoundly altered by human activity .Almost nothing remains of the ancient wild forests of tall trees, the prevalence of which were holms and oaks .The cereal steppes bordered by stone walls tell of the intensified farming and livestock work that was done due to the presence of the penal colony.

The charm of Pianosa is set free by the plumage and song of birds that practically form the only steady population of the island, since the human beings present are about twenty. The gulls, the peregrine falcon, the hoopoe, bee-eaters and the buzzard, the shearwater and the shag, nest here,but the more fortunate bird watchers will also see Eleonora’s falcon, marine jays and the booted eagle . Red coral, grouper, snapper, sea bass and mullet are just some of the giant creatures that inhabit the waters of exceptional ecological value of this ecosystem that historical and political events, more or less intentional, have kept intact. The seabed of the island of Pianosa is among the richest in the Tuscan Archipelago and this is due partly because its waters were always protected from overfishing, in fact within one mile around the island sailing and fishing are prohibited and partly due to the presence of the prison that imposed isolation. To realize that water would make Caribbean hotel managers break out of envy, all you need is a trivial diver’s mask and place your head under the waters of Cala Giovanna, the only area of the island where bathing is permitted.

Until 1997 most of Pianosa’s land was used for agricultural purposes by the penal colony established in Pianosa since the second half of the nineteenth century. After the interruption of agricuture the natural vegetation of the land is gradually re-colonizing the territory.

Since 1998, there are no prisoners on the island. Hopefully someday we will see Pianosa as a pearl of tourism in Tuscany .Today you can visit Pianosa with daily guided tours.