Pantelleria (Italian pronunciation: [pantelleˈɾiːa];[3] Sicilian: Pantiḍḍirìa; [pandɪɖɖɪˈɾiːa]), known in ancient times as Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, 106 kilometres (55 nautical miles) southwest of Sicily and 68 km (35 nmi) east of the Tunisian coast.

The last eruption occurred below sea level in 1891, and today phenomena related to volcanic activity are present, such as hot springs and fumaroles.

The earliest evidence of human activity dates to the Neolithic, where it appears visitors to the island would arrive temporarily in order to extract obsidian for dispersion elsewhere in the central Mediterranean.

After a considerable interval, during which the island probably remained uninhabited, the Carthaginians took possession of it, no doubt owing to its importance as a station on the way to Sicily.

Their acropolis was the twin hill of San Marco and Santa Teresa, 2 km (1+1⁄4 mi) south of the present town of Pantelleria.

In 1123, Roger II of Sicily took the island, and in 1311 an Aragonese fleet under the command of Lluís de Requesens won a considerable victory here.

[13] A naval battle took place near the island in July 1586 when an armed English merchant fleet of five ships managed to repel an attack by eleven Spanish and Maltese galleys.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the British considered the possibility of taking over Pantelleria (together with Lampedusa and Linosa) so as to be able to supply Malta, but a royal commission stated in an 1812 report that there would be considerable difficulties in this venture.

They are similar in character to the nuraghe of Sardinia, though of smaller size, and consist of round or elliptical towers with sepulchral chambers in them, built of rough blocks of lava.

A dammuso is a dry stone building with thick walls that usually appear black due to the extensive use of volcanic rock.

One notable exception is the castle Barbacane, a renaissance building formed by an irregularly quadrangular plan with internal court joined to a squared base tower.

The island of Pantelleria is located above a drowned continental rift in the Strait of Sicily and has been the focus of intensive volcano-tectonic activity.

Pantelleria has a subtropical Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) characterized by very warm to hot, almost rainless and humid summers, very mild and frost-free winters, a powerful seasonal lag and a small diurnal temperature range.

[26] Specchio di Venere (literally "Venus' mirror") is a natural lake formed in an extinct volcanic crater, and fed by rain and hot springs.

[27] The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a population of Eleonora's falcons, with some 35–40 breeding pairs estimated in 1994.

[29] In 2014, the traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the vite ad alberello (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.