Set between Africa and Sicily, nearer to the black continent than to our own, Pantelleria, a volcanic island, can be considered a true nature paradise. Its shape is circular and culminates, at the centre, in Montagna Grande ("big mountain") from whose top, on dry clear days, one can admire that spectacle of incomparable beauty which is the view of the African and Sicilian coasts in a single vista. Of volcanic origin, it still shows residual signs of its ancient activity, both around the now spent crater of Montagna Grande - where there are twenty-four mouths locally known as 'cuddìe', and inside the crater itself, where there is the "Venus' mirror" pool, fed by thermal springs whose temperature can go up to 50 degrees Celsius - and in other places, where there are other activities, such as fuming vapours, called "lavare" or "mofete". Morphologically, the area is very interesting: beaches, splendid coasts, rich in needles, like the famous natural "Elephant arch"; no less famous and fascinating are the numerous grottoes on Pantelleria, including the very interesting "Pertusa di Notaro", also known as the "Cold cavity" because of the cold air coming out of the cracks in it. One should not miss the easy excursions to the "Bagno dell'acqua" ("water bath"), to Montagna Grande, to Punta Spadillo, to the pretty Gadir village, to the Western Bay, the Turks' Rock, Scauri, Monte Sant'Elmo and the Sesi, very ancient megalithic cupolashaped tombs.
