Marettimo

Marettimo (Italian pronunciation: [maˈrettimo];[1] Sicilian: Marrètimu) is one of the Aegadian Islands in the Mediterranean Sea west of Sicily, Italy.

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi (1099–1165 or 1166), the Moroccan Muslim geographer, cartographer, Egyptologist and traveller who lived in Sicily at the court of King Roger II, mentioned this island, naming it جزيرة مليطمة (jazīrat Malīṭma, "the island of Malitma") on page 583 of his book Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ihtiraq ghal afaq, otherwise known as The Book of Roger, considered a geographic encyclopaedia of the medieval world.

The island has about 300 inhabitants in the winter and 700 in the summer (not including tourists), who mainly live from fishing, tourism and traditional handcrafts.

The island is home to about 500 plant species, many of them indigenous and very rare, among the most endangered being Bupleurum dianthifolium, Brassica macrocarpa, Scilla hughii and Thymus richardii subsp.

There are wild goats, rabbits, eagles, peregrine falcons and plenty of screeching gulls.

A map showing the Aegadian Islands. Marettimo is the westernmost island.