View source for Lipari

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{{Redirect|Lipara|other uses|Lipara (fly)|and|Lipara (mythology)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Lipari
| native_name         = {{native name|scn|Lìpari}}
| official_name       = Comune di Lipari
| image_skyline       = Aerial image of Lipari (view from the southwest).jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Lipari
| image_flag          =
| image_shield        =Lipari-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|38|28|N|14|57|E|region:IT_type:city(10763)|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Sicily]]
| metropolitan_city   = [[Metropolitan City of Messina|Messina]] (ME)
| frazioni            = [[Alicudi]], [[Filicudi]], [[Panarea]], [[Stromboli]], [[Vulcano]], [[Canneto (Lipari)|Canneto]], [[Acquacalda]], [[Quattropani]], [[Pianoconte]], [[Lami (Lipari)|Lami]]
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               =
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      =89.72
| population_footnotes = <ref name="population">{{cite web|title=Monthly Demographic Balance|url=https://demo.istat.it/app/?l=en&a=&i=D7B|publisher=[[Italian National Institute of Statistics|ISTAT]]}}</ref>
| population_total    = 12793
| population_as_of    = 2025
| population_demonym  = {{lang|it|Liparesi}} or {{lang|it|Liparoti}}
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
|istat=| saint               = [[Bartholomew the Apostle|Saint Bartholomew]]
| day                 = 24 August
| postal_code         =
| area_code           =
| website             =
| footnotes           = 
}}
[[File:Castello Lipari.JPG|thumb|View of the town of Lipari]]

'''Lipari''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɪ|p|ər|i}} {{respell|LIP|ər|ee}}, {{IPA|it|ˈliːpari|lang}}; {{langx|scn|Lìpari}}; {{langx|la|Lipara}} or {{lang|la|Meligūnis}}; {{langx|grc|Μελιγουνίς|Meligounís}}, or {{langx|grc|Λιπάρα|Lipára|label=none}}) is the largest of the seven [[Aeolian Islands]], located in the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] off the northern coast of [[Sicily]], [[Southern Italy]], and a {{lang|it|[[comune]]}} (municipality) including six of them (Lipari, [[Vulcano]], [[Panarea]], [[Stromboli]], [[Filicudi]] and [[Alicudi]]); it is administratively part of the [[Metropolitan City of Messina]]. It has 12,793 permanent residents,<ref name="population" /> but during the May to September tourist season, the total population may reach up to 20,000. It is also the name of the biggest island in the archipelago, where the main urban area of the {{lang|it|comune}} is located.

[[Christopher Nolan]] shot his upcoming 2026 film ''[[The Odyssey (2026 film)|The Odyssey]]'' throughout the Aeolian Islands<ref> https://www.visititaly.eu/places-and-tours/odyssey-sicily-filming-locations-movie-christopher-nolan</ref> and particularly around the island of Lipari,<ref>https://www.vanityfair.it/article/eolie-ulisse-matt-damon-the-odyssey-set-nolan</ref> cited by its ancient name of ''[[Aeolia (mythical island)|Aeolia]]'' after [[Homer]].

==History==

===Neolithic period===

In [[Neolithic]] times Lipari was, much like [[Sardinia]], one of the few centres of trading in [[obsidian]], a hard black volcanic glass prized by Neolithic peoples for the extremely sharp cutting edges that can be obtained. Lipari's history is rich in incidents as witnessed by the recent retrievals of several [[necropoli]] and other archaeological sites. Humans seem to have inhabited the island already in 5000 BC, though a local legend gives the [[eponym]]ous name [[Liparus (mythology)|Liparus]] to the leader of a people coming from [[Campania]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lipari-island-Italy|title=Lipari (island, Italy) - Encyclopedia Britannica|website=Britannica|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>

===Bronze Age===
====Early Bronze Age====
In the early [[Bronze Age]], at the end of the third millennium BC, new settlers of [[Aeolians|Aeolian]] origin came from [[Mycenae]]an Greece, giving their name to the islands. They had already settled in [[Metapontum]] in Italy and used the islands as outposts for controlling trading routes through the [[strait of Messina]].

====Middle Bronze Age====
Successive domestic buildings have been excavated on the acropolis dating from the 18th c. BC and underlying the ancient Roman town.

====Late Bronze Age====
In the 13th century BC, the islands were settled by [[Ausones|Ausinian]] peoples from the coasts of [[Campania]], who introduced the myth of [[Liparus (mythology)|King Liparus]] from whom the town’s name derives.

In the Mycenaean Period, Lipari has yielded pottery from [[Helladic period|LHI]] to [[Helladic period|LHIII]].<ref>Gert Jan van Wijngaarden (2002) Use and Appreciation of Mycenaean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy (1600-1200 BC)</ref><ref>Bernabo-Brea & Cavalier 1980</ref>

===Iron Age===

Lipari's continuous occupation may have been interrupted violently when in the late 9th century BC an [[Ausoni]]an civilization site was burned and apparently not rebuilt. Many household objects have been retrieved from the charred site.

===Greek and Roman periods===

Greek colonists from [[Knidos]] arrived at Lipara ~580 BC after their first colonization attempt in Sicily failed and their leader, Pentathlos, was killed.<ref>Diodorus Siculus 5.9, Pausanias 10.11.3-4</ref> They settled on the site of the village now known as Castello in [[Magna Graecia]]. The colony successfully fought the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] for control of the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]].

The town was initially concentrated upon the summit of the rock which played the role of acropolis, seat of religious cults and of public life, but in the course of the first century of its existence, an increase in the population necessitated an expansion into the area at the foot of the rocky slopes and on to the top of the Civita hill. A first city wall, built sometime in the 5th century BC was erected along outcrops at the bottom of the slopes of the rock, leaving outside the modern district of Diana, which was destined from the beginning to accommodate the city necropolis. A second city wall was built in the 4th century BC to enclose the new residential area bounded to the north and south by the river-beds of Santa Lucia and Ponte, which in ancient times ran into the two bays at the foot of the rock. The city wall ran near the two river-beds and then joined on to the Acropolis and the Civita hill. The mighty fortification, of which some traces are visible today in the district of Diana, divided the town from the necropolis.

[[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] forces succeeded in holding the site briefly during their struggles with [[Dionysios of Syracuse|Dionysios I, tyrant of Syracuse]] in 394 BC, but once they were gone the ''polis'' entered a three-way alliance which included Dionysios' new colony at [[Tyndaris]]. Lipara prospered, but in 304 BC [[Agathocles of Syracuse|Agathokles]] took the town by treachery and is said to have lost all of his pillage from it in a storm at sea.

Lipara became a Carthaginian naval base during the first [[Punic War]], but fell to Roman forces in 252&ndash;251 BC. It was occupied by [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] in [[Augustus|Octavian]]'s [[Bellum Siculum|campaign]] against [[Sextus Pompeius]]. Under the [[Roman Empire]] it was a place of retreat and exile and was enjoyed because of its thermal baths using natural springs. The Emperor [[Caracalla]] sent his wife, [[Fulvia Plautilla]], and her brother, Plautius, into exile here for the rest of their lives.

Many objects recovered from old wrecks are now in the Aeolian Museum of Lipari.

===From the Middle Ages to present===
[[File:Lipari-Citadelle.jpg|thumb|right|The 1556 fortifications, built atop ancient Greek walls.]]
Lipari was probably an episcopal see from the 3rd century onward, with the first bishop being St. Agatone, who, according to tradition, had found the sacred remains in his cathedral. The presence of the relics has been attested since at least 546.

In the 9th century, Sicily was conquered by the [[Arabs]], and soon [[Saracen]] [[pirate]]s began to raid across the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]], with dramatic effects for Lipari. In 839 the Saracens slaughtered much of the population, the relics of St. Bartholomew were moved to [[Benevento]], and Lipari was eventually almost totally abandoned. The [[Normans]] conquered the Arabs throughout Sicily between 1060 and 1090, and repopulated the island once their rule was secure. The Lipari episcopal seat was reinstated in 1131.

Though still plagued by pirate raids, the island was continually populated from this time onward. Rule of the island was passed from the Normans to the [[Hohenstaufen]] Kings, followed by the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]], and then the [[Aragon]]ese, until [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Carlos I]], the Aragonese King, became the [[Spain|Spanish]] King, and was then quickly crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V|Charles V]].

====Franco-Ottoman attack====

[[File:Castello di Lipari 01.jpg|thumb|View of the 16th century Lipari castle on the old Greek acropolis]]
In 1544, [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] admiral [[Hayreddin Barbarossa]] [[Sack of Lipari|ransacked Lipari]] and [[Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|enslaved]] the entire population.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&q=Battle+of+A%C3%AFn-el-Turk&pg=PA453|title=Concise History of Islam|last1=Syed|first1=Muzaffar Husain|last2=Akhtar|first2=Syed Saud|last3=Usmani|first3=B. D.|date=14 September 2011|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|isbn=9789382573470|language=en}}</ref> Five French galleys under [[Captain Polin]], including the superb ''[[French galley Réale (1538)|Réale]]'', accompanied Barbarossa's fleet on a diplomatic mission to [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Sultan Suleiman]] in execution of the [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]]. French priest [[Jérôme Maurand]] lamented about the depredation to his Christian fellow men during the campaign at Lipari: "To see so many poor Christians, and especially so many little boys and girls [enslaved] caused a very great pity." He also mentioned "the tears, wailings and cries of these poor Lipariotes, the father regarding his son and the mother her daughter... weeping while leaving their own city in order to be brought into slavery by those dogs who seemed like rapacious wolves amidst timid lambs".<ref name="d249">{{cite web | last=Piccirillo | first=Anthony | title="A Vile, Infamous, Diabolical Treaty": The Franco-Ottoman Alliance of Francis I and the Eclipse of the Christendom Ideal | website=DigitalGeorgetown | date=10 May 2012 | url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/555505 | access-date=20 May 2024}}</ref>

A number of the citizens were ransomed in Messina and eventually returned to the islands.

Charles V then had his Spanish subjects repopulate the island and build the massive city walls atop the walls of the ancient Greek [[acropolis]] in 1556.

The walls created a mighty fortress still standing today.  The acropolis, high above the main town, was a safe haven for the populace in the event of a raid. While these walls protected the main town, it was not safe to live on the rest of the island until [[Barbary pirates|Mediterranean piracy]] was largely eradicated, which did not occur until the 19th century.

===20th century===
[[File:Marina Corta, LIpari.jpg|thumb|Marina Corta, the smaller harbour in the main town]]
From the 1920s to the 1940s, the Lipari islands were used for the [[Solitary confinement|confinement]] of political prisoners, including [[Emilio Lussu]], [[Curzio Malaparte]], [[Carlo Rosselli]], Giuseppe Ghetti, and [[Edda Mussolini]]. During the 1930s, the islands were used to detain exiled members of the [[fascist]], [[Croatian nationalist]] [[Ustaše]] movement.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Adriano|first1=Pino|last2=Cingolani|first2=Giorgio|year=2018|title=Nationalism and Terror: Ante Pavelić and Ustasha Terrorism from Fascism to the Cold War|publisher=Central European University Press|location=Budapest, Hungary|isbn=978-9-63386-206-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7tWDwAAQBAJ|pages=142–151}}</ref>

The islands were then extensively searched by [[Archaeology|archeologists]] [[Madeleine Cavalier]] and [[Luigi Bernabò Brea]] after [[World War II]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Médaille d'argent du CNRS à Madeleine Cavalier - Centre Jean Bérard |url=https://centrejeanberard.cnrs.fr/spip.php?breve79 |access-date=3 March 2024 |website=centrejeanberard.cnrs.fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pracanica |first=Alessio |date=22 June 2020 |title=Il museo Bernabò Brea di Lipari, uno dei più ricchi e meno conosciuti musei del Mediterraneo. Foto |url=https://dazebaonews.it/primo-piano/editoriali/50677-il-museo-bernabo-brea-di-lipari-uno-dei-piu-ricchi-e-meno-conosciuti-musei-del-mediterraneo-foto.html |access-date=3 March 2024 |website=Dazebaonews |language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martinelli |first1=Maria Clara |last2=Spigo |first2=Umberto |date=2014 |title=Le isole Eolie dalla fondazione del Museo Archeologico Luigi Bernabò Brea alla istituzione del Parco Archeologico delle Isole Eolie: problemi di tutela e valorizzazione |url=https://www.torrossa.com/it/resources/an/3116822 |journal=150 anni di preistoria e protostoria in Italia. - ( Studi di preistoria e protostoria; 1) |language=it |pages=561–565}}</ref>

==Geography==

Lipari Island is the largest of a chain of islands in a [[volcanic]] [[archipelago]] situated in between [[Vesuvius]] and [[Mount Etna|Etna]].  The island has a surface area of 89.72&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and is 30&nbsp;km from Sicily.  Besides the main town, most of the year-round population resides in one of the four main villages: Pianoconte is almost due west across the island, Quattropani in the northwest, Acquacalda along the northern coast, whereas [[Canneto (Lipari)|Canneto]] is on the eastern shore north of Lipari town. The highest point on the island is Monte Chirica at 602&nbsp;m (1975&nbsp;ft).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/boris/mirror/mirrored_html/LIPARI.html|title = Lipari, Isole Eolie, Italy}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{Historical populations|1861|14968|1871|12463|1881|12265|1901|15451|1911|16310|1921|15280|1931|14276|1936|14156|1951|11799|1961|11037|1971|10037|1981|10547|1991|10382|2001|10554|2011|11642|2021|12508|cols=2|align=none|source=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Popolazione residente e presente dei comuni. Censimenti dal 1861 al 1971|trans-title=Resident and present population of the municipalities. Censuses from 1861 to 1971|url=https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/Censimentipopolazioneresidentedal1861/PUV0027177Pop_res_pres_cens_1861_1971_Tomo1.pdf|date=24 October 1971|language=it|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dashboard Permanent census of population and housing|url=https://esploradati.censimentopopolazione.istat.it/databrowser/#/en/censtest/dashboards|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]}}</ref>}}

==Geology==
[[File:Lipari pumice mining.jpg|thumb|left|A pumice mine just east of Acquacalda.]]
[[File:Panorama di Lipari.jpg|thumb|View of Lipari.]]
Geologists agree on the fact that Lipari (island) was created by a succession of four volcanic movements, the most extensive of which was the third one, presumably lasting from 20,000 BC to 13,000 BC. A further vast phenomenon should have happened around 9000 BC.<ref>Keller, J. (1969): "Die historischen Eruptionen von Volcano und Lipari".''  Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft'', vol.121, pp.179-185.</ref> The last recorded eruptions occurred in the 5th century AD when airborne [[pumice]], together with [[volcanic ash]], covered the Roman villages of the island. The volcanoes are considered active, and steaming [[fumarole]]s and [[hydrothermal activity]] may still be seen. As a result of its volcanic origin, the island is covered with pumice and [[obsidian]].  Pumice mining has become a large industry on Lipari, and the pale pumice from Lipari is shipped worldwide.

==Culture and media==
* [[Christopher Nolan]] filmed [[The Odyssey (2026 film)]] around Lipari with an epic cast of [[Matt Damon]] and [[Anne Hathaway]] among other renowned stars. 
* The large archaeological museum extensively covers history of the Aeolian Islands from prehistoric to classical times, [[volcanology|vulcanology]], marine history, and the [[paleontology]] of the western Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.isolelipari.com/en/the-aeolian-archaeological-museum/|title=The Aeolian Archaeological Museum “Luigi Bernabò Brea”|website=www.isolelipari.com|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
* The geographer [[Strabo]] identified Lipari with Aeolia, the island of the winds in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greekreporter.com/2024/01/11/aeolian-islands-greek-heritage/|title=The Aeolian Islands and Their Ancient Greek Heritage|website=Greek Reporter|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/geography-odyssey|title=The Geography of the Odyssey|website=Lapham’s Quarterly|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
* The ending sequence of [[Kaos (film)|''Kaos'']] by [[Paolo and Vittorio Taviani]] showed children sliding down the vast slopes of white pumice that flowed into the sea. Today the pumice slope stops about {{convert|1|m|ft|0}} from the sea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.labocine.com/films/kaos|title=Kaos (1984) by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani|website=Labocine|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
* The annual [[Feast of Saint Bartholomew|Feasts of Saint Bartholomew]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siciliainfesta.com/feste/festa_di_san_bartolomeo_lipari.htm|title=Festa di San Bartolomeo a Lipari|website=www.siciliainfesta.com|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>
* On 25 July 2013, the mayor of Lipari issued an ordinance banning the wearing of "bikinis, thongs or other swimming costumes in the town centre" to be punished with a fine of 500 euros<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/55542/Lipari-bans-swim-suit-attire-from-town-centre.html|title=Lipari bans swim-suit attire from town centre|access-date=4 March 2018|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063028/http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/55542/Lipari-bans-swim-suit-attire-from-town-centre.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> (equivalent to about $700 in 2014).

==People==
* [[Peppino Mangravite]] (1896–1978){{snd}}artist
* [[Christian Riganò]] (born 1974){{snd}}football manager and former player
* [[Francesco Scoglio]] (1941–2005){{snd}}football manager

==See also==
* [[Diocese of Lipari]]
* [[List of volcanoes in Italy]]
* [[List of islands of Italy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite journal | author=Ezio Giunta, dir. | title=Lipari | journal=Estateolie 2005*The Essential Guide (English Version of Tourist Guidebook)| year=2005 | pages=2–61}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lipari}}
{{Wikivoyage|Lipari}}
*[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120908080605/http://www.marcllewellyn.com/ Website for Finding Nino] Travelogue about living on Lipari, the 2008 winner of the ASTW Travel Book of the Year Award.
*{{cite gvp|name=Lipari|vn=211042|access-date=26 June 2021}}

{{Portal bar|Geography|Islands|Italy}}
{{Aeolian Islands}}
{{Messina}}
{{Province of Messina}}
{{Sicily}}
{{Magna Graecia}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Aeolian Islands]]
[[Category:Islands of Sicily]]
[[Category:Stratovolcanoes of Italy]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of the Tyrrhenian]]
[[Category:Metropolitan City of Messina]]