CITY OF LA MADDALENA

La Maddalena is the elder sister of about 60 islands and islets that form the archipelago in the north-east of Sardinia, facing the Gallura coasts; it is the only one inhabited within the national park with its historic town, a former Italian and American military base.

A road runs along its entire perimeter: 45 kilometers of breathtaking views. Granites and porphyries delimit ragged stretches, bays, coves and beaches, while the hinterland is made up of rolling hills. La Maddalena gives its name to the archipelago of which it is the largest island and to the national park of which it is the administrative center.

For a long time, it was the base of the Navy, as shown by the Nino Lamboglia naval museum. The strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea had an impact on its history: in 1793 the French army led by a young Corsican officer who tried to invade it, Napoleon Bonaparte, was stopped by the fleet commanded by Domenico Millelire from the island. The island also drawn the attention of Admiral Nelson, among others. Today it captures the holiday desires of lovers of naturalistic scenarios of extraordinary beauty.

Its center is the only inhabited center in the archipelago: La Maddalena, founded in 1770, overlooks Palau, which is twenty minutes away by ferry. Eighteenth-century palaces overlook the paved alleys of the center, such as the town hall and the parish church of Santa Maria Maddalena. In the small port of Cala Gavetta stands a column with the effigy of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who lived his last 26 years in Caprera, connected to the Maddalena by the Passo della Moneta and famous for: museum compendium of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

You will admire a suggestive landscape along the road to Spalmatore, a delightful cove. Three kilometers from the center there is Cala Francese’s fjord: between Mediterranean vegetation and granite quarries, there are paths leading to the discovery of silent coves and dream beaches. In the southern part, following the Padule promenade, you arrive at the Eagle’s Nest, near the military fortress. Not far away, another beauty, Punta Tegge. In the north, beyond the Strangolato isthmus, there are coves made of white dunes and surrounded by rocks shaped by the wind and beaches: a must-visit Bassa Trinita, Cala Lunga and Monti d’Arena.

From La Maddalena you will depart to discover the other islands of the park: Santo Stefano in the south, Budelli and the famous Spiaggia rosa (Pink beach), Razzoli, Santa Maria and Spargi in the north.