This two storey house with open views of the ocean offering privacy and peace is located in the Mediterranean’s most beautiful and unspoiled island: Isola di San Pietro, Carloforte.
Only a twenty-minute ferry-crossing from the south-western coast of Sardinia and Carloforte will soon appear at the bow of the boat, recognisable for its nineteenth-century buildings facing the port and the Battellieri and Cavour seaside walkways. Along the quay, there are ferries, rusty fishing boats and big motor boats with their nets still piled up among the fishing tools and lifejackets, yellowed by the sun. The sea ranges in colour from glorious turquoise to emaral greens...
Like the Italian peninsula, Sardinia has been at the crossroads of different cultures and civilizations for more than 3 millennia. Positioned in the middle of the Mediterranean, it has been conquered, occupied and colonized by almost everyone, starting from the mysterious people who built the Nuraghe. Next came the Phoenicians, and Punic settlements such as Tharros. With a splash of Arab influence here and there, the next centuries witnessed various Spanish contingents and then the Italians (Genovese in particular).
Carloforte, typifies the amalgamation that is Sardinia. It upholds the linguistic tradition of those who originally colonized the area, so that whereas in Alghero you ' ll hear Spanish inflections, and in Cagliari the local dialect is the closest living expression of ancient latin to be found in any modern romance language, on S. Pietro the accent is strictly Ligurian.
Carloforte was founded in 1738 by Ligurian fishermen originally from the Genovese suburb of Pegli. Before coming to San Pietro, they had settled on Tabarka Island off the coast of Tunisia. Subject to constant pirate raids, they were finally granted the feudal title to S. Pietro by Carlo Emanuele III, King of Piedmont and Sardinia.
In gratitude, they named the main town after him, and erected a statue which is still standing on the Lungomare (seaside promenade).
Dominated by the belltower of San Carlo, Carloforte is one of the most characteristic fishing villages on the island, with its bastions and defense walls, memories of the ever present pirate threat. The hinterland is mountainous and green, abounding with pine groves, junipers and strawberries. The Phoenicians called it Sparrow-Hawk Island, because of the abundance of birds of prey that feed on the flourishing population of hares and other small animals. In recent years, the rose-colored flamingo has chosen the island as one of its refuges. The coastline is spectacular, ranging from the northern beaches of Cala Lunga and Cala Fico, to panoramic Capo Sandalo with its lighthouse, on the western shores, to the rocky cliffs of Mezzaluna and the breathtaking pinnacles called "Le Colonne" (the Columns) in the south. The cliffs and columns are formed of a magnificent rose-colored trachyte common to the island.