The Palmaria island with a surface area of, is the largest of three islands in the Gulf of La Spezia and the Liguria region of the whole, the other two islands, Tino and Tinetto meet down a few hundred meters straight line to the south. The island has a triangular shape: the sides that face Portovenere and the Gulf of La Spezia are the most humanized and slope gently down to the level of the sea, covered by typical Mediterranean vegetation, the side that faces west, i.e. towards the open sea, is instead characterized by high cliffs overhanging the water, in which there are many caves. The sides humanized see the presence of some private homes, a restaurant and especially bathing establishments, both public and confidential employees of the Navy and Air Force. As for the western side, the most difficult to reach, are worthy of note the Blue Cave, visited by boat, and the Cave of Pigeons, which can be reached only by climbing down ropes. The latter in particular has been very important in the study of historical events in the Gulf, as have been found inside the fossilized bones of Pleistocene animals such as chamois and the snowy owl, but above all remains of human burials, testifying the presence of man at least five thousand years ago. On the island there are also many buildings of a military character and of great historical interest: the top, inaccessible as a former military area and is currently in a state of neglect, the Fort Count of Cavour, the battery now used as experimental environmental education center and Batteria Semaforo near the Scola Tip, the tower ironclad Umberto I and used in World War II to a military prison and renovated a few years ago and the remains of the battery Albini, scattered throughout the island, several bunkers from the Second World War and the remains of coastal artillery and antiaircraft mostly inaccessible since abandoned and submerged vegetation.
Portoro marble
Remarkable is the presence of an abandoned quarry, once used for the extraction of the precious black marble with streaks of gold called portoro. There are still remnants of cranes and hoists used for moving the blocks of marble and the walls of the houses of the miners.
Natural habitat
Flora
The flora of Palmaria is composed of about 500 species. The original vegetation, which was to be formed mainly from the Mediterranean and the forest of oak, was modified to anthropogenic causes such as fire, agriculture, introduction of alien plants and animals. Today the pines share space with typical Mediterranean species such as oak, oak, mastic, strawberry tree, the cysts, the gorse, etc.. Other important groups are the spot to plant spurge and nearest to the sea cliffs on those characterized by samphire. Among the new flora, Centaurea cineraria veneris, Iberis umbellata var. linifolia, exclusive in Palmaria, Centaurea aplolepa lunensis, endemic to eastern Liguria. Finally, also worth Brassica oleracea robertiana, Serapias neglecta and Cistus incanus, rare in Liguria, where it reaches its northern limit.
Fauna
On the island there are some of the largest reptile wildlife emergencies, such as tarantolino Phyllodactylus europaeus, the smallest of the European geckos, easily recognizable by the absence of tubercles on the dorsal side. In addition to the islands of Tino and Tinetto, this is present in very few other sites in Liguria. Between the birds deserve to be mentioned the kestrel, peregrine falcon, sparrowhawk, the red partridge, gulls, the raven, rock thrushes, cormorant or shag. Between the mammals you mention the bats found in caves: the trunnion, the greater horseshoe bat, the lesser horseshoe bat. There are colonies of rabbits and goats, remains of a recent past when the island was inhabited more than now. Between the invertebrates on the islands is to report the beetleParmenas solieri, an endemic species linked to the Tyrrhenian patch of spurge.
Climate and maritime links
The climate is typically Mediterranean, with a temperature range, both daily and seasonal. In winter there are very few episodes of extreme cold and frost, while in summer the heat is damped by the effect of sea breeze, the modeled rainfall trends on the Riviera di Levante, presenting abundant, especially in autumn and spring. For the maritime links is possible reach the island by private boat or, in the summer months, with ferries that connect to Portovenere, Lerici and La Spezia.
