The town of Carloforte with its more than 6,000 inhabitants is located on the island of San Pietro, southwest of Sardinia.
Colonized in 1783 by the Genoese from Pegli, who came from the Tunisian town of Tabarka, it has preserved intact many of the traditions of the Genoese population, which can be found in the typical Carloforte dishes and in the original Tabarka dialect, still used by the population.
St. Peter’s Island is by area, 51 sq. km, the second largest island in the Sulcitan archipelago. Its coasts are high and rocky washed by a very clear sea, while the interior is covered with dense Mediterranean scrub, Aleppo pine, rosemary, and dwarf palm. Corsican gulls and queen’s hawks nest in its cliffs. The volcanic island is famous geologically in that the rocks known as commendites are named after a particular area on the island where they were first studied and classified. Carloforte is the only inhabited center on the island. It was founded during the reign of Charles Emmanuel III by a colony of Ligurian fishermen from Tabarka, an island off the coast of Tunisia. The Ligurian origin of its inhabitants can be seen in its dialect, traditions, customs, and town planning, as can be seen when visiting its historic center. The island of San Pietro can be reached by ferry, about a 30-40 minute crossing, from Calasetta or Portoscuso.
