Ginostra

The small village of Ginostra is situated on the south west part of the island and up until a few years ago it held the record of the smallest port in the world: il pertuso – the hole.  Set in the rocks it allowed access to only one boat at a time and contained only three embarkments, the others were pulled in with the help of characteristic beams of wood on which the boat sild onto. For bigger boat this however was impossible so they were usually reached by a smaller boat often with oars once reached but the smaller boat outside of the harbour supplies and passengers where loaded aboard and taken to shore. This operation was however often impossible due to weather conditons, isolating to small town for long periods of time. In 2004 the old port was widened to hasten evacuations in case of a natural disaster. The work preserved the state of the town and it’s small port.In the same year the toen was connected to an electric line and a supply resivour, Until then electricity was supplied by solar panels and motor generators. due to the fact that there was no water on the isalnd it was collected from rooves and converged in a tank which each house was provided with. The town is reachable only by a steep track that leads to the square where a monument for those who died in WWII can be found. The sqaure forks off into two small streets. One that leads to the church and the other to Lazzaro beach. The town only had 30 residents accustomed to solitude and tranquility. The small number of houses still mantain an intact architecture. For people who love peace and quiet where only the noises that can be heard are the wind, sea and the hooves of a mule the only means of transport that takes supplies from the port to town centre.

The Sea and the beaches of Ginostra

The coast surrounding the town has no real beaches but that doesn’t deny people the pleasure of diving into the clean trasperant water. There are three point where it is possible to swim, below the church a path leads to a rocky corner surrounded by colbolt blue water, near the harbour naturally made pools are set into the rock creating a truely pituresque scene. The third beach is Lazzaro, an old slipway leads to the sea. The seabed supplies those who enjoy diving with a unique experience. A submearsed arc becomes the frame to a thriving vegetation. At the area before the church at about 15-20 meteres depth there is an old wreck of a military ship. The depths of the island are populated by groupers, bream, eels, octopuses and sea urchins, also from the shore if you are lucky you will see whales, dolphins and swordfish passing by.