La Maddalena
| 250px | |
| La Maddalena | |
|---|---|
| City | Comune di La Maddalena |
| Region | Sardinia |
| Province | Olbia-Tempio (OT) |
| Altitude | |
| Area city proper | 49.37 |
| Population as of | october 31, 2005 |
| Population density | 11,902 |
| Population density metric | 52.06 |
| Timezone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Frazioni | Moneta, Stagnali |
| Telephone | 0789 |
| Postal code | 07020, 07024 |
| Gentilic | Maddalenini |
| Saint | Santa Maria Maddalena |
| Day | july 22 |
| Mayor | |
| Website | www.lamaddalena.it |
La Maddalena is a town and commune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio.
The town
La Maddalena is the largest town in the Maddalena archipelago, just 2 kilometres from the northeastern shore of Sardinia and sitting in the Straits of Bonifacio, between it and Corsica.
La Maddalena now derives much of its income from tourism and from the U.S. Naval base on Santo Stefano. The only method of traveling to La Maddalena is by boat, with car ferries travelling from nearby Palau and from the Italian mainland.
The island
The island of Maddalena is renowned for its beaches; it is characterized by rocky granitic terrain and has some ancient fortifications. Cala Francese and Bassa Trinita are two popular beaches. It is connected by causeway with the nearby island of Caprera, famous for its connection with the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi.
History
The Maddalena archipelago, and thus presumably La Maddalena, is known from archaelogical evidence to have been occupied in prehistoric times, but its written history begins with the Roman Empire. The islands were the object of a dispute between Pisa and Genova in the 12th century and were later abandoned only to be recolonised by Corsican shepherds and later by the first Sardinian settlers in the 16th century.
La Maddalena has undergone many name changes: the Romans named it Ilva, Fussa and Bucina and in the Middle Ages the island was known as "Bicinara" before being given the name of Santa Maria Magdalena in the 16th century. After this it finally became known as La Maddalena.
Its location in the Straits of Bonifacio, through which much maritime traffic must pass, has turned the archipelago into a strategic military position. As the main town in the islands La Maddalena has borne the brunt of the military action. The Piedmontese occupied it in 1767; in 1793 the town was bombarded by French revolutionary forces under the command of a young Napoleone Buonaparte; Admiral Nelson used it as a base during his 1804 blockade of Toulon (only leaving his ship to visit church on a Sunday) and Benito Mussolini was held prisoner there 139 years later shortly before he was moved to Campo Imperatore on the Gran Sasso, where he was famously rescued by Otto Skorzeny.
Currently there is a NATO base on the nearby island of Santo Stefano. The base serves as the homeport of the USS Emory S. Land, a US Navy submarine tender.
La Maddalena gives now its name to an Italian National Park placed in the archipelago.