Caprera Island (La Maddalena Archipelago)
Overview of Caprera
Caprera is the second-largest island in the La Maddalena Archipelago (15.7 sq km) and forms part
of a protected National Park and UNESCO-recognized Geomining Park. It is dominated by Mount
Teialone (212 meters) and covered with pine forests, holm oaks, and granite coastal coves.
Giuseppe Garibaldi & the Compendio Garibaldino
Giuseppe Garibaldi purchased land on Caprera in 1856, living there until his death on June 2,
1882.
• Casa Bianca (White House): Built in the style of South American fazendas, serving as his
main residence.
• Compendio Garibaldino National Museum: Encompasses Garibaldi’s farm buildings,
personal belongings, leather armchair gifted by Queen Margherita, and the room where he
died, preserved with historical furniture.
• Gravesite: Garibaldi’s tomb, carved from rough granite, lies in the family cemetery alongside
his wife Francesca Armosino and his children.
Military Fortifications
From 1887 onward, Savoyard and Italian military engineers constructed defensive installations
across Caprera:
• Opera Arbuticci: Built between 1887 and 1893 on Mount Arbuticci at an elevation of 132
meters to guard the Strait of Bonifacio. Features include perimeter moats, Krupp howitzer
emplacements, and subterranean ammunition stores (riservette) transformed in 2012 into the
Giuseppe Garibaldi Memorial.
• Opera Poggio Rasu (Lower & Upper): Built between 1886 and 1888. Upper Poggio Rasu
incorporates moat walls, a drawbridge, 280mm Krupp howitzers, and rail tracks for transport.
• Candeo Battery: A 1928 coastal artillery installation mimetically built into granite rock
formations using concrete and natural stone overlays.
• Punta Rossa Fortifications: A complex of coastal defense structures and torpedo stations
built between the World Wars on the southern tip of the island.
Coastal Highlights & Beaches
• Cala Coticcio (Tahiti): A secluded cove surrounded by pink granite cliffs, fine white sand,
and shallow turquoise waters.
• Spiaggia del Relitto: A white-sand beach famous for housing the timber skeleton of the
Trebbo, a coal-freighter ship that ran aground following an onboard fire in July 1922.
• Stagnali: The primary settlement on Caprera, housing former military barracks repurposed
into the La Maddalena Park Environmental Education Center, featuring a geological/
mineralogical laboratory exhibiting giant smoky quartz crystals from Punta Crucitta.
• Centro Velico Caprera (Punta Coda): Established in 1967 at Punta Coda, operating as
Italy’s oldest and largest non-profit sailing school.