The Island of Salina - Malfa

Malfa, which is the agricultural heartland of the entire archipelago (the village where the Hotel Ravesi is located) is located on a terraced hillside, in the Giovi valley, a gentle slope located on average 90 metres above sea level.

Because it faces northwards it is the coolest and greenest part of the island. It has a population of over 800 people. It is 6.5 kilometres from the port of Santa Marina and is located in a strategic central position for reaching the other points and villages on Salina.

It takes its name from Amalfi, which was the town of origin of numerous families who settled on the island in the XII century, allured by the incentives bestowed by the Normans. Apparently it was people from Amalfi who settled in the cult island of San Lorenzo, the patron Saint who is celebrated on 10 august. However, the name could also come from “Marfa”, which in Arabic means “port”.

This is the part of the Island that preserves the oldest evidence of human settlement, as the traces of a prehistoric village dating back to the III millennium BC bears testimony; the Greeks and the Romans preferred it to the other areas, because of its location and also because of its fertile soil.

The following are the places of historical interest to visit:
-the mother Church of San Lorenzo, which was rebuilt in 1933, after it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1926.
-the social and cultural centre named after Father Marchetti, located on the ground floor of the building (in via Conti), which was donated to the Municipality to the meritorious priest from Amalfi in 1913. On the upper floor there is the municipal library, which has the Aeolian Herbarium next to it, which is managed by the Didime 90 Association. The library hosts the Immigration Museum, which preserves documents, photographs and film concerning immigration from Italy and in particular from the Aeolian islands.
-In Capo Faro, you will find the seventh century church of Sant'Anna; inside this Church you can admire paintings with the following themes: Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1742); the Madonna of Rosario (XIX century); the Madonna of the Guard (1919); as well as wooden sculptures of the Sacred Heart (1925); S. Anna with the Virgin as a child (XX century); San Giuseppe with Baby Jesus (1925).
-In Pollara you will find the Church of S. Onofrio; worshiping this Saint seems to have been brought to the Island by immigrants from the Calabria region.
-the immigration museum, in Malfa.
The most popular location for tourists who wish to immerse themselves in a limpid, clean and transparent, admire the ecstatic visions of fabulous landscapes, or contemplate the changing sounds of nature, are the following:

-Punta Scario beach, which you can reach from the centre of the Island via a characteristic stone roadway 400 metres long, which allows you to admire the old fisherman’s warehouses;

- the fisherman’s port and the small Scalo Galera beach;
the small pebble beach of Capo Faro is located here. It is one of the two locations along the road that joins Santa Marina to Malfa. The old warehouses of S. Pietro and a small church are located here;

-the observatory area (an old observatory dating back to the first World War) with a beautiful overhanging view mare, from which you can enjoy the magic flickering of the sun setting alongside the majestic Filicudi, while seagulls fly above the Faraglione stack of rocks;

-the extremely famous village of Pollara (which ahs a population of 60 people), resting like an amphitheatre on the slope of one side of a crater. From the other side there are only the Faraglione rocks, which fell into the sea during a cataclysm 13.000 years ago. From Pollara, via two paths, you can reach a characteristic bay, developed from stratified lava rock, with splendid sea bottoms and enchanting underwater grottos
The first path leads to the main beach, delimitate by a sheer drop and characterised by traces of old warehouses dug out from the tufa deposits. The second path, which is made from a stone stairway, instead leads to the “Balate” beach, a place which has become famous because it was the location of Massimo Troisi’s film “Il Postino” (the postman).