AgrigentoLampedusa.
Traces of Greek, Roman, and Saracen settlements have been found on Lampedusa. After the expulsion of the Saracens by the Greek telesiarch Gregory in AD 813, the island was inhabited by various populations, sometimes only very sparsely, until 1843, when Commander Bernardo Maria Sanvisente was sent by Ferdinand II, the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies, together with a following of soldiers, ecclesiastics, administrators, 120 men and women in all, in order to repopulate the island. We owe to Sansivente various descriptions of conditions on the island and of the foundation of the colony that gaverise tothe present-day Lampedusa.

One important place of interest often visited by both inhabitants and tourists is the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Porto Salvo. Many tales are told about this Sanctuary and a number of legends have arisen. Apparently it was also venerated by the Turks, and runaway slaves and shipwrecked sailors could find food and drink there, ready for use. According to one strange legend an escaped slave once took refuge in the Sanctuary, where he succeeded in building a raft on which he hoisted as a sail the canvas bearing the image of the Madonna of the Sanctuary; in this way, using this makeshift sail, he was able to reach the coast of Liguria.