The earliest evidence of life on the island can be attributed to the Neolithic period when frequentation at Monte Castello is attested: fragments of pottery, spools for weaving and a millstone have been recovered here, as well as obsidian tools that testify to Capraia's inclusion in the route that was supposed to connect Corsica and Sardinia with the mainland. Later it is assumed to have been first an Etruscan naval base and then certainly a Roman center of route control in an anti-Carthaginian key. A column base, a bust of Venus and a marble sarcophagus have been recovered at the Church of the Assumption, testifying to the probable existence of a sacred area. In the late ancient period, beginning in the fourth century CE, Capraia was home to an anchorite Christian community that chose to live in total isolation, and then, during the fifth century, saw the coming of Zenobite monks who introduced the cultivation of the African vine and built the monastery of St. Stephen. This community is the first witnessed by written sources and must have enjoyed some fame if even Rutilius Namazianus mentions it in his De Reditu of 416.
Beginning in the 9th century AD. Capraia was the scene of continuous clashes with pirates and was first abandoned for nearly two centuries, then reoccupied alternately by the Pisans and pirates until the Battle of Meloria in 1284, which sanctioned its entry under the orbit of Genoese influence. The city of the Lantern erected from 1540 the defensive system consisting of the fortress of San Giorgio and the three watchtowers. From 1873 to 1986 it was home to a penal colony (Colonia Penale Agricola di Capraia) that caused massive emigration of the native population.
Today, Capraia Island offers the opportunity for a visit and stay that will project you into a paradise of serenity and peace, in contact with nature and a thousand-year history.
