beauty. The small archipelago is made up by the islands of San Domino, San Nicola, Cretaccio, Caprara and, approximately 11 miles from these, the island of Pianosa. The Tremiti Islands' crystalline water attract many tourists each year. One of the most beautiful characteristics of this archipelago is that, depending on the waters, the coast changes, and thin sections of rock appear and disappear to create coves and small beaches. All of these characteristics give this landscape a charming image of natural and uncontaminated beauty. The waters are clear, the coast is indented by coves, peaks and cliffs. Particularly beautiful is the Elephant's cliff, named after its shape and the Pagliai, or hay stacks, which are pyramid-shaped monoliths that look like real hay stacks. Take a boat ride around the archipelago to see amazing caves such as the Caves of the Violets, the Caves of the Sea Cow and the Caves of the Swallows.

A place that was called “The Garden of Paradise” by the Benedictine monks for the spontaneity of its natural wonders. San Domino is where you will find the beaches Cala delle Arene, Cala Matano and the beaches below the Pagliai (Haystacks). This latter beach can only be reached by boat. Known in ancient times as "Trematis", it was given the name San Domino in recent times since a church was built here that was dedicated to this bishop and martyr. San Domino also has a unique history, particularly the legend of how its was born: in fact, this is the death place of Diomedes, Homer's mythical hero , the Lord of Argo and King of Etolia, where his companions buried him and erected a temple to honour him over the centuries. What's more, large ceramic fragments and lithic weapons discovered here attest to the presence of man since the Neolithic Era.

the first time in the annals of Tacitus. This great poet wrote that at the time of Tiberius Julia died, the woman who twenty years earlier had been relegated by her grandfather for her adulterous life “in insulam Tremetum”. The Julia that Tacitus wrote about was born out of the second marriage of the daughter of Augustus, who was also named Julia, with the general Agrippa. Like her mother, her conduct was not exemplary and for this reason the emperor was forced to relegate his daughter and granddaughter to Pandataria and Tremiti respectively. The mortal remains of the younger Julia are found in the ancient tomb of the plateau of St. Nicola. Most like the name indicated by Tacitus, Tremetum, or Trimetum, refers to the Latin name for the number three, Tres (or Tria), whose variations are repeated in its various names. Therefore, it was named after the three main islands that make up the archipelago.

The story of Dionysus
Dionysus of Alexandria, a contemporary of Ptolemy, mentions just one of the islands, referring to the most important of the three: “Diomedis nomine dicta”, where, according to the literary and popular tradition, one of the faithful companions of Homer's hero Diomedes had landed. On his return from Troy , he fled from there forever when he discovered that his wife Aegiale had been unfaithful to him through a plot that had been set against him. At the end of his long pilgrimage he decided to stay in the islands. The hero would spend his last days on the island made famous by his tomb : “conspicua monumenti Diomedis”. His faithful companions, transformed into birds known as the Diomedes, watch over him in his eternal rest as they moan for the disappearance of their beloved leader with their nocturnal chirping, similar to the sound of a crying baby.

The story of Virgil
Virgil tells the story of Diomedes who came ashore in Gargano and landed on Iapigia the rock of Argiripa that would later become the Roman Arpi, the largest city of Daunia that was destroyed in the Middle Ages and would later be brought back to life with the name Foggia. Virgin also mentions Diomedes' companions who were transformed into water birds that flock around the rocky shores with their moaning calls. Virgil, as opposed to others, attributed this metamorphosis to the revenge of Venus and not to the premature death of the hero.

as they are also called, the ancient Diomedes which Homer chose as the last home for the mythical hero and friend of Ulysses..
Since 1989 these islands have been named a Natural Marine Reserve and were then included in the Gargano National Park.. Rising up from and being submerged by the waters on various occasions in their geological history, thanks to their calcareous nature, an impressive number of marine caves have been excavated here, rich in incredible and always unique landscapes and jagged coasts. The only way to fully appreciate the beauty of its coasts is by boat. A coast characterised by rocky coves, steep cliffs and nature caves where the Diomedes are said to have nested, the legendary companions of Diomedes that were transformed by Aphrodite, that continue to weep for the death of their hero. The Gargano National Park extends over an area of approximately 121,118 hectares, which is home to a series of truly one-of-a-kind habitats. There are the dense and vast forests, for which it is famous, to the Mediterranean thicket, from the great karst plateaus, to the steep cliffs on the sea, dotted by fantastic caves, precipitous and wooded valleys that slope down towards the sea, to the coastal lagoons of Lesina and Varano, to the hills and steppe-like plains to the Paludi (salt marshes) of Frederick II. Also included among the park's treasures are the four Tremiti Islands surrounded by the crystal-clear waters of the sea and a multitude of caves. The plant life, thanks to the area's particular micro climate, is truly rich and unique in Italy: beechwoods in the interior and on the northern coast, the Aleppo pines along the coast, vast expanses of Mediterranean thickets, with alternating stretches of oak woods where Turkey oaks and Holm-oaks abound and mixed forests rich with manna-ash, ash, elm, holly, chestnuts maple, oak, beech... In the clearings, between prickly pear cactus and in the steppe-like areas the wild orchids grow, approximately 85 species of which can be found inside the Gargano Park, making it one of the richest areas in Europe. On the sunny slopes thrive olive trees, pear trees, apple trees and hawthorns surrounded by shrubs of lentisk, juniper, thyme, blackberries, prickly pears and a beautiful tree known as the “devil's tree” or the carob.