Ferdinand Island

On around the 20th of June 1831 the first signs of seismic activity were felt. For around ten days, along the south-west coast of Sicily and further inland, numerous earth tremors were perceived, while along the stretch of sea affected, about 30 miles in front of Sciacca, the disrupted waters heated up and underwent convulsions by powerful explosions, that raised clouds of ash, mud and lapillus to the sky. It was the eruption of a submarine volcano that, with the strength of its magma, had given life to a stunning event, the birth of an island. The Island of Ferdinandea emerged precisely on the 15th of July, already 9 metres tall and by the 22nd of July had reached 25 metres with a circumference of 1.5 km. This strip of land, in the middle of the Sicilian Channel, immediately acquired strategic importance noticed by different governments, including that of England, France and the Bourbon kingdom. The Bourbon government tried to accelerate the invasion time through a decree issued by king Ferdinand the II on the 17th of August 1931, including the small island in its domain, thus giving it the name Ferdinandea. However on the 18th of December, after only five months of life, between columns of water and eruptions of vapour, Ferdinandea Island disappeared under the seawaters. Today in its place, at only a depth of 8 metres, there is a shoal that lies on a volcanic cone ready to resurface at any moment.