Tinetto, Protected islet in Porto Venere, Italy.
Tinetto is a small rocky islet in the Gulf of La Spezia that forms part of a tiny archipelago alongside two neighboring islands. The island remains uninhabited, consisting mainly of steep rocky slopes rising directly from the water with sparse vegetation.
The islet gained international recognition in 1997 when UNESCO designated it as part of a World Heritage Site together with Porto Venere and Cinque Terre. This designation reflected the region's natural and cultural importance to the Mediterranean.
The islet's name comes from the Latin word 'tinea', meaning moth, referring to the small cave-like openings in the rock that have marked this place for centuries. Visitors can still see these natural hollows scattered across the stone today, giving the island its distinctive look.
Reaching the islet requires taking a boat from Porto Venere, as no structures or landing facilities exist on the island. Visitors should expect delays during rough weather, since the crossing can be quite challenging.
The islet is home to a special wall lizard subspecies, Podarcis muralis tinettoi, found nowhere else in the world except on this tiny rocky outpost. This isolated population has adapted over generations to the harsh conditions of the bare rock.
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