Among the “seven sisters” of the Aeolian archipelago, Filicudi and Alicudi are the most shy, most “shy” onesperhaps because they are small and long forgotten and unexplored. Linked by proximity and elective affinities, they are the islands of wind, silence and black lava flows. The most primitive, authentic and extreme. A paradise at the center of Vincenzo Saccone’s doc “Filicudi and Alicudi, the islands of silence”broadcast this evening at 10pm on Rai 5.
The distance from the mainland, the shortage of water, the absence of an equipped port and the difficulty of docking hydrofoils and ships, the lack of shops and sandy beaches, have until now kept them away from the more mundane and mass. There is no single inhabited center on the two islands, but houses scattered across the mountain in different districts. Two places that still retain their wild appearance intact, where the warmth and simplicity of the inhabitants can be felt every day and makes the guest feel like a member of the small community.
Filicudi is the geologically oldest island of the archipelago and contains seven extinct volcanoes. The Greeks called it Phoinicussa, the dwarf palm, still present on the island’s headlands. The symbol of the island is the Canna: a giant stack that with its 74 meters of height emerges from the sea as evidence of an ancient underwater lava eruption. Considered the guardian of Filicudi, it is said to have some sort of magical power. A single asphalt road crosses the island and then a dense network of mule tracks that can be traveled on foot. Electric light was brought to Filicudi in 1986 with a diesel generation plant, an event that caused a quick leap into the future in the daily life of the islanders. But there is no ATM or bank, there are no nightclubs except a bar-restaurant open all year round which becomes the heart of the island. And, apart from a minimarket called, as usual in Sicily, a putia, there are not even any shops of any kind.
Alicudi, on the other hand, is the island of steps. Known in ancient times by the name of Ericussa due to the abundant presence of the heather plant on the island, it is the smallest and steepest of the entire archipelago and by far the most isolated. As soon as you arrive you are naturally immersed in a rare, almost lost dimension of life where the sounds of the sea and the wind dominate. With the exception of a grocery store at the port, there is really nothing on the island. And there is nothing horizontal about Alicudi, it is entirely made up of long stairways and mule tracks which also require a certain physical training. There are no roads, not even one, you rely on your feet or mules, the symbol of the island. The number of steps to climb replaces the address and house number. It is an island full of legends: fishermen who cut waterspouts with their hands, flying women who reach Palermo or Tunisia at night, goats who speak in which the inhabitants really believe in a sort of elimination between dream and reality.