Gorgona Island (Tuscany) - the last prison island of Italy

Perhaps not everyone knows that 18 miles from Livorno, between the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas, there is Gorgona, a small island known by the unofficial name "The Prison Island." For the few who know it, Gorgona Island is home to an open-type correctional colony. This place could have been a paradise on earth, but for some reason, it became Alcatraz. Its second name comes from the correctional facility located here, where about 70 inmates serve their sentences and roughly the same number of staff work.

Since 1869, that is, since the founding of the open-air agricultural correctional colony, time seems to have stood still here, on one hand protecting the island’s beauty, and on the other, leading it to oblivion and degradation. Prisoners are allowed to move freely around the island and generally participate in agricultural work, tending olive trees, vegetable gardens, and vineyards that have been producing wine for the Frescobaldi family for over 700 years. This is a social project born from cooperation between Frescobaldi and the Gorgona penitentiary institution. Frescobaldi agronomists and oenologists have been working with inmates since 2011, offering them skills in viticulture and winemaking. The "Gorgona" project began in August 2012 thanks to a partnership between Frescobaldi and Gorgona, the only island prison in Europe.

Here, inmates spend the last years of their sentences working and living in close contact with nature, while developing the skills necessary for their reintegration into society. Today, the vineyard covers two hectares, including the original plot and a second plot planted in 2015. This vineyard grows grapes from the Vermentino and Ansonica varieties for Gorgona wine, a product of a unique location and human labor, symbolizing hope and freedom.

Gorgona is little known compared to other islands in the archipelago, such as Elba (Napoleon’s place of exile), Giglio (where the Costa Concordia liner crashed), and Montecristo (the setting of A. Dumas’ novel). However, it stands out for its beautiful and untouched nature, writes Lonely Planet.

The island is poorly connected to the mainland but has recently become accessible for visits. There is a limit on the maximum number of visitors per year.

This year, free access to the island was opened for the first time. You can get there by boat, which departs at 7:45 AM from the Tuscan port of Livorno. The boat can carry no more than 75 visitors, who must then return no later than 7:30 PM. Additionally, walking around the island is only allowed when accompanied by a local guide.

Sources:

https://www.frescobaldi.com/en/estates/gorgona