Tremiti Islands

North of the Gargano peninsula, the Tremiti Islands rise from the Adriatic. On San Nicola stands the abbey of Santa Maria a Mare, which ruled the islands in the Middle Ages and held lands on the Apulian mainland. The abbey was sacked by Dalmatian pirates in 1334. Lateran canons took possession in 1412 and restored it with cisterns and fortifications, which withstood an Ottoman naval attack in 1567. King Ferdinand IV of Naples suppressed the abbey in 1783 and established a penal colony on the islands.