Istalia

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Solocasie Islands, from fire to rebirth: the forgotten archipelago that looks to the future

Once devastated by a catastrophic eruption, the Islands are preparing for a new life between tourism development and environmental protection

December 5647

In front of the bay of Futua, along the jagged north-western coast of the island of Alaria, closed to the south by Capo Vespero, the westernmost point of the island, stands a group of rare and fascinating lands: the Solocasie Islands, an archipelago of six islands once forgotten but today at the center of an unprecedented ferment.

The reason for such isolation, despite the proximity to the coast, is engraved in the very rock of the archipelago: in 1949 a very violent eruption of Mount Arsio, on the second largest island, Flegrea, devastated the entire island system. It was a devastating explosion, followed by a tsunami that hit not only the surrounding islands, but also the coast of Alaria, and by long years of earthquakes and leaks of poisonous gas. The landscape was transformed into a desert of stone and cracks, an almost lunar scenario.

A tragedy that, incredibly, recalled a similar event experienced millennia before: the ancient Selucian colonizers, in fact, found the archipelago in similar conditions. Fascinated and intimidated by that land of fire, they called Setlana, today Setelana, the largest island, in honor of Setlanus, the Selucian god of fire. The Flegrea Island, on the other hand, took on a name of Kalopian origins, always linked to the underworld and volcanoes.

In the modern era, with the archipelago made inhospitable to agriculture and devoid of significant flora, the Solocasia Islands ended up becoming state property. Setelana became the site of a Navy base, later dedicated to submarines, often an area closed to the public, while the island of Avrasta hosted and hosts important radar and telecommunications systems for the defense.

With the end of the First Republic, however, nature began to reclaim its spaces: the flora returned to grow luxuriantly, the fauna was reintroduced thanks to environmental programs, and scattered villages began to be reborn, albeit in basic living conditions and far from any structured development.

Under the Third Republic, the archipelago, which could be said to be "cured", was officially declared a nature reserve, while experts confirmed the definitive extinction of volcanic activity. However, the absence of civilian ports, the lack of regular connections, the presence of active military polygons, such as the one in the Colata Valley, on the main island, several other areas intended for military use and the strict environmental regulations prevented a real tourist take-off despite the potential, leaving the islands to be enjoyed only by adventure-loving tourists and a few visitors.

Not even the projects proposed under the Third Empire managed to break the inertia, stopped by the crisis that gripped the country under the Seventh Republic. Today, however, with the “Sea Program” the Solocasia Islands return to the center of the country’s strategic vision.

The project involves the construction of the archipelago’s first civilian port, converting and expanding the former port of the Navy base of Porto San Filippo, which has now become the main urban center of the largest island. A town born around the naval base, today it is preparing to become a hub for new tourism development.

In the meantime, private entrepreneurs are already proposing initiatives and projects to the two widespread municipalities that administer the archipelago. The islands offer breathtaking landscapes: from the smooth granite cliffs of the Agorese Island to the pink rocks of Avrasta, from the infinite uncontaminated coves insinuated between the imposing white cliffs, to the suggestive pure holly woods in the Colata Valley itself.

The islanders’ reactions are mixed. On the one hand, the enthusiasm for the economic prospects is tangible: land development, growth in employment, new activities for young people and families. On the other, there is no shortage of fears: the risk of overbuilding, the loss of the wild and authentic character of the islands, the impact on the ecosystem that has been laboriously rebuilt.

While on the one hand the "Program Sea" promises to finally restore centrality and development to these forgotten islands, on the other hand the need for a long-term and responsible view emerges. The Islands cannot become the scene of disorderly or invasive development. The challenge will be to find a balance between progress and protection, between the inevitable economic impulse and the conservation of a unique natural and cultural heritage. The Sunset Islands, as they are poetically called by some, have waited a long time for their moment: now it is up to politics, citizens and entrepreneurs to decide whether this will be a new beginning or a missed opportunity.