Carloforte

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Carloforte (Lat 39deg, 08', 44" N; Long 8deg 18' 21" E) is a fishing and resort town of 6,000 located on San Pietro Island, approximately 4 nautical miles (7 km) off the South Western Coast of Sardinia. It is within the administrative purview of Cagliari, Sardinia's capital.

Carloforte was founded in the 1700s by some 30 families of coral fishers, originally from Pegli, near Genova, Italy. They had left their home town and had settled in the island of Tabarka, off the coast of Tunisia, to fish for coral. After a century or so, the coral in that area was exhausted and so the families set off back to Italy and found there was plenty of coral in the sea off the west coast of Sardinia. They asked the King of Sardinia - King Carlo Felice (Carloforte: the fort of carlo) - for permission to settle on San Pietro Island. When he granted them permission, the name Carloforte was given to the town they established there, in honour of the king. To this day Carloforte maintains strong cultural ties to the Pegli community near Genova.

The very early history of the town - and of San Pietro Island - may be linked to the so-called Children's Crusade of 1212. A local church (Chiesa dei Novelli Innocenti) whose foundations date back to the early 1300s was apparently built in honour of hundreds of children-crusaders who may have perished in a shipwreck just off the island on their way to North Africa during a gale. In truth, historical evidence of this event is actually scant and would need to be researched further. The church is called Chiesa dei Novelli Innocenti and is located within the town perimeter.

Modern-day Carloforte's principal sources of revenue are fishing, tourism, and remittances from the many merchant mariners around the world who hail from Carloforte. Frequent (hourly) ferry services connect the recently expended port of Carloforte with the Sardinian mainland at Portovesme as well as Calasetta, a similar fishing resort on Sant'Antioco Island, to the SE of San Pietro Island and Carloforte.

To the North of the town (at the La Punta locale) is a former tuna-processing plant linked to the once-vibrant tuna fishing tonnare industry on the island. The buildings are undergoing renovation to some extent and may possibly be used to house a museum dedicated to the industry. Some of the buildings are in ruin, but remain of great architectural interest.

Excellent beaches, both rocky and sandy, line the coast of the island. Some of the cliff top views are nothing short of spectacular, in particular across the island from Carloforte where a functioning lighthouse whose structure dates back to the 1880s (Capo Sandalo Lighthouse, now automated), locally known simply as 'il faro', makes for a great sunset destination.

Carloforte boasts a long standing tradition of wooden boatbuilding. The industry is being kept alive by the dedication and skill of local craftsmen. Locally built traditional lateen sail fishing boats (luggers) can be spotted in the harbour. The town hosts a maritime high school, which remains well attended to this day.

Several boat chartering, diving, and tourist businesses are based in Carloforte. They can be found along its waterfront. The town offers excellent dining.

(Cruisers' note: several cruising sailboats visit Carloforte each year. There are several small-scale marinas in the harbour, although slips are at a premium. Free dockage is available along the south side quay. Commercial and recreational marine traffic to and out of Carloforte harbour and on San Pietro Channel can be heavy May through September in particular. Cruisers should make sure to consult a local nautical chart before attempting night time passage due to some well-marked navigational hazards. The harbour approach can be challenging when the local Mistral wind picks up out of the NW).