Where Odysseus threw a barbecue: exploring Sicily’s Favignana island
02.05.2024 - 14:59
/ theguardian.com
I cycled into birdsong, into colour, the light glimmering against the white of the low stone walls. There was a spaciousness as I cycled, a lateral stretching of soundscape, big skies, birds fluting. I didn’t meet anyone else on the narrow lanes and had a sense of being completely alone on an island of 2,000 people. Is there anything happier than being on a bicycle early in the morning, heading to the sea?
The Egadi archipelago off the north-west coast of Sicily is a well-kept secret. Italians come here on holiday, but the islands are relatively unknown to international tourists. And an even better-kept secret is that these magical islands inspired the fantastical lands of the Odyssey, Europe’s oldest travel story. There are a total of five islands and it’s possible to visit three of them.
I’d come to Favignana, the Odyssey’s “island full of wonders” according to one theory, as part of my quest to discover the real-life places that inspired the Odysseus’s epic journey for my new book. As soon as I set foot here, I fell tipsily in love. The largest of the islands in the archipelago, it’s still tiny, measuring less than eight square miles.
According to one theory, this was the island where Odysseus’s crew stopped before he and a few companions went off to meet the Cyclops. Favignana is supposedly where they rested, hunted goats, barbecued them on the beach and drank “strong red wine” (though I didn’t see a single goat in all the time I spent there).
The first thing I did when I arrived was hire a bicifrom charming Marcello at the GAC rental shop right by the port. There’s no need for a car, because the island is so small and mostly flat. Favignana boasts one of Sicily’s most famed beaches, Cala Rossa, and I set out to find it. It was the site of one of those endless, confusing Punic wars – this cove was where the Greeks were badly outnumbered but fought their enemies so bravely that the seas turned red with blood, giving the beach its name. It’s a lovely bike ride over and the rocky beach is unlike any I’ve ever seen. Quarrying has left a legacy here, and the huge, vertical standing stones look strange and beautiful. And the water is a neon turquoise.
There are plenty of other – equally lovely, if less iconic – coves to visit. Lido Burrone is the island’s only sandy beach, and the most dramatic is Bue Marino, a former quarry on the east coast where the waters are deep and clear beneath walls of rock. It’s the most striking place for a swim on the island, and a great place to watch the sunrise. Cala Azzurra, nearby, is a more classic cove, and right above it is a simple cafe where owner Dario serves good panini and arancini.
For a little island, Favignana has a very bloodthirsty history. I learned about