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PANTELLERIA, or PANTALARIA (ancient C...

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 682 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PANTELLERIA, or PANTALARIA (See also:ancient Cossyra1) , an See also:island in the Mediterranean, 62 m. S. by W. of the See also:south-western extremity of See also:Sicily, and 44 M. E. of the See also:African See also:coast, belonging to the Sicilian See also:province of See also:Trapani. Pop. (1901), 8683. It is entirely of volcanic origin, and about 45 sq. m. in See also:area; the highest point, an See also:extinct See also:crater, is 2743 ft. above See also:sea-level. Hot See also:mineral springs and ebullitions of See also:steam still testify to the presence of volcanic activity. The island is fertile, but lacks fresh See also:water. The See also:principal See also:town (pop. about 3000) is on the See also:north-See also:west, upon the only See also:harbour (only See also:fit for small steamers), which is fortified. There is also a penal See also:colony here. The island can be reached by steamer from Trapani, and lies See also:close to the See also:main route from See also:east to west through the Mediterranean. In 1905 about 300,000 1 The name is Semitic, but its meaning is uncertain.-See also:PANTHEISM gallons of See also:wine (mostly sweet wine), and 'goo tons of dried raisins, to the value of 34,720, were exported.

On the west coast, 2 M. south-east of the harbour, a See also:

neolithic See also:village was situated, with a rampart of small blocks of See also:obsidian, about 25 ft. high, 33 ft. wide at the See also:base, and 16 at the See also:top, upon the undefended eastern See also:side: within it remains of huts were found, with pottery, tools of obsidian, &c. The See also:objects discovered are in the museum at See also:Syracuse. To the south-east, in the See also:district known as the Cunelfe, are a large number of tombs, known as sesi, similar in See also:character to the nuraghi of See also:Sardinia, though of smaller See also:size, consisting of See also:round or elliptical towers with sepulchral See also:chambers in them, built of rough blocks of See also:lava. Fifty-seven of them can still be traced. The largest is an See also:ellipse of about 6o by 66 ft., but most of the sesi have a See also:diameter of 20-25 ft. only. The identical character of the pottery found in the sesi with that found in the prehistoric village proves that the former are the tombs of the inhabitants of the latter. This See also:population came from See also:Africa, not from Sicily, and was of Iberian or Ibero-Ligurian stock. After a considerable See also:interval, during which the island probably remained uninhabited, the Carthaginians took See also:possession of it (no doubt owing to its importance as a station on the way to Sicily) probably about the beginning of the 7th See also:century B.C., occupying as their See also:acropolis the twin See also:hill of See also:San Marco and Sta Teresa, i m. south of the town of Pantelleria, where there are considerable remains of walls in rectangular blocks of See also:masonry, and also of a number of cisterns. Punic tombs have also been discovered, and the votive terra-cottas of a small See also:sanctuary of the Punic See also:period were found near the north coast. The See also:Romans occupied the island as the See also:Fasti Triumphales See also:record in 255 B.C., lost it again the next See also:year, and recovered it in 217 B.C. Under the See also:Empire it served as a See also:place of banishment for prominent persons and members of the imperial See also:family. The town enjoyed municipal rights.

In 700 the See also:

Christian population was annihilated by the See also:Arabs, from whom the island was taken in 1123 by See also:Roger of Sicily. In 1311 a See also:Spanish See also:fleet, under the command of See also:Requesens, won a considerable victory here, and his family became princes of Pantelleria until 1J53, when the town was sacked by the See also:Turks. See Orsi, " Pantelleria " (in Monumenti del Lincei 1899, ix. 193-284). (T.

End of Article: PANTELLERIA, or PANTALARIA (ancient Cossyra1)

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