San Pietro Island, Mediterranean island off southwestern Sardinia, Italy
San Pietro Island is an island off the southwestern coast of Sardinia in Italy with steep cliffs and small coves along the rocky coastline. The main town Carloforte sits on the eastern shore with a protected harbor and pastel-colored houses stepping down toward the sea.
Genoese families from Tabarka in Tunisia founded Carloforte in 1738 after fleeing the Bey. The colonists brought North African customs and their language, which remain preserved on the otherwise Sardinian island to this day.
Locals speak Tabarchino, a Genoese dialect preserving their North African past, heard in the narrow streets of Carloforte. Fishermen still use the same nets and techniques their ancestors brought from the Mediterranean, selling tuna and red lobster at the harbor.
Ferries from the Sardinian mainland dock regularly at Carloforte harbor, connecting the island to Portovesme and Calasetta in about forty minutes. Visitors arriving by car find parking near the waterfront, while most explore Carloforte and its surrounding coves on foot or by rented bicycle.
The western coast provides nesting grounds for Eleonora's falcons, a rare raptor that hunts between the rocks in autumn. Phoenician seafarers named the place Enosim because of these birds, meaning Island of Hawks.
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