Pantelleria Island

Pantelleria lies in the Strait of Sicily, between Sicily and the Tunisian coast. Known in antiquity as Cossyra, it passed through Carthaginian and Roman rule; Arab forces conquered the island in 700, and Roger II of Sicily took it in 1123.

Its position exposed it to maritime conflict. In 1553 an Ottoman fleet under Dragut sacked the island, and in 1586 an English merchant convoy fought Spanish and Maltese galleys nearby. A Siculo-Arabic vernacular survived on the island until the late eighteenth century, leaving traces in place names and the local Sicilian speech.