Authentic Lampedusa: A Cultural Tour of History and Traditions｜Italy

Discover the most authentic side of Lampedusa on an immersive cultural tour exploring history, memory, and identity.
This experience is designed for those who want to go beyond the sea and truly get to know the soul of the island, through a tour of some of its most important historical and cultural sites.

You will be accompanied by Emily D'Ippolito, a young Lampedusa native who is an expert on local history and culture. Thanks to her expertise, her passion, and her deep connection to her homeland, the tour becomes an even more vivid and authentic experience: not just a visit, but a captivating story told by someone who truly knows, studies, and loves Lampedusa.

The tour begins at the Pelagie Regional Archaeological Museum, where you will visit the rooms on the ground floor dedicated to artifacts that tell the story of the island from prehistoric times to the Roman era. You will be able to admire obsidian objects, stone tools, ceramics, ancient coins, and the famous goddess Fortuna, a symbol of Lampedusa's central role in Mediterranean trade routes.

Outside the museum, we will visit the Roman fish tanks at Cala Salina, an extraordinary example of the ancient fish-processing industry, which tells the story of the island’s economic and commercial role during the Imperial era.

The tour then continues to Piazza Brignone, where the remains of a late antique settlement can be found, a valuable record of permanent human presence on the island between the 4th and 7th centuries. From there, we will continue with a visit to the Father Giuseppe Policardi House Museum, a site of remembrance of 20th-century Lampedusa, and – traveling by public transport – to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Porto Salvo, one of Lampedusa's most evocative and symbolic places.

The experience concludes at Casa Teresa, the oldest and best-preserved dammuso on the island, a unique example of 19th-century rural architecture. In the garden, you will also be able to see one of the mysterious timpuna, stone structures whose origin remains uncertain to this day.

Throughout the tour, Emily will enhance each stop with anecdotes, insights, and stories that reveal the island’s most profound side. At the end of the experience, you will also receive a small souvenir brochure featuring the sites visited.

To get to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Porto Salvo and then to Casa Teresa, you will need a means of transport. If you don't have a car, you can book transportation for an additional fee of €10 per person.

The tour is made possible through partnerships with the Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, which owns the historical and cultural sites on Lampedusa, such as the Museum, Casa Teresa, and the archaeological sites; ATS Pelagies, comprising the Visioni d’Autore Foundation and the Lampedusa Tourism Hub, which manages the aforementioned historical and cultural sites; and the Padre Policardi Association, which established and manages the Padre Policardi House Museum.