© provided

It's especially the contrasts that immediately strikes newcomers. Anyone approaching the island of Pantelleria by plane will see a landscape of hard-leaf forests on mountainous terrain inviting you to go hiking. A ferry crosses over every day from Trapani in Sicily, and after six hours and 142 kilometers, black rock faces greet you. It's a rugged contrast to the evergreen harmony.

In front of the "Osteria Il Principe e Il Pirata", this barge tells all forgetful people where to hold their selfie stick. © provided

Charcoal-coloured rock, dark green cacti, glittering turquoise sea - these are the colour contrasts that characterize Pantelleria. It's a small spot, 60 kilometers off the Tunisian coast, an outpost of Europe that geologically belongs to the African continent. The island is actually nothing more than a volcanic ejecta - spewed into the sea 325,000 years ago, cooled over thousands of years and kept at operating temperature by sweltering heat. 

The island's black lava rock is used by the "Parco dei Sesi" as the material for its unique accommodation. © provided

In August, temperatures reach 37 degrees. In winter, storms with winds of force eight roar across the unprotected island. 36 extinct craters are spread over an area of just under 80 square kilometers - slightly more than Salzburg and smaller than Linz. Around 7600 inhabitants make do with this climate all year round. Many times more visit the "black pearl of the Mediterranean" in the high season, which Time Magazine named one of the "greatest places in the world" last year.

Freshly caught octopus from the Mediterranean is served in the restaurant "Il Principe e Il Pirata". © provided

Why are people drawn to this godforsaken rock? Historically speaking, this question is easy to answer. Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Arabs fought over Pantelleria because of its strategic location between Sicily and Africa. They left behind a terraced acropolis with defensive walls - and in the case of the Arabs, a vocabulary that shaped the local dialect. The Normans later conquered the island, followed by the Spanish, before the Italians finally took over this wondrous piece of land. That was at the end of the 19th century - and the island had already lost all geopolitical significance. Pantelleria degenerated into an appendix of Sicily, where olive trees and grapes thrived.

Seclusion and primal power

Artist-in-residence programs for artists are a central component of the "Parco dei Sesi". The results can be admired in many rooms. Aysia Stieb

The poor infrastructure allowed for basic supplies, and the dusty and narrow roads allegedly only had room for Fiat Pandas. To this day, there are said to be more cars of this model on the island than people living there. Thanks to the general perplexity as to what to do with this insular volcanic residue in a highly industrialized world, the Panteschi inevitably preserved a cultural landscape that is unparalleled today.

On Pantelleria, visitors come across natural elements everywhere - for example the resilient walls of the dammusi. © Emilio Messina / Alamy Stock Photo

Pantelleria has qualities that have become rare in these hypermodern times: authenticity and the will to survive, slowness and seclusion. The island is bursting with primal power and a living closeness to nature. Organic architecture dominates the landscape in the form of massive stone houses, the traditional dammusi. For centuries, in the absence of a source of drinking water, people have learned to get their water from the rain. The dome-shaped roofs of the dammusi intercept the rain, stone grooves channel it until it is collected in basins.

At the Coste Ghirlanda winery, nature has sovereignty over the color palette and design. © provided

Do you want even more ingenuity? To prevent the wind from knocking over the olive trees, many of them grow in so-called Giardini Panteschi - stone fences that can withstand even the storms of the century. Winegrowers cultivate their Zibibbo wine using the alberello method, in which the plant is pressed to the ground. The dessert wine Passito is a product of this special care; it tastes of the sunny sweetness of summer.

the design concept of the "Parco dei Sesi" hotels reflects the earthy tones of Pantelleria. © Aysia Stieb

Such a pared-down lifestyle has aroused the interest of the affluent society in recent decades. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani travels to his villa on the island every year. His estate includes seven dammusi with thick stone walls, a swimming pool and a garden with 300-year-old palm trees, which the designer had transported from Sicily.

The carefully prepared food at "Tenuta Borgia". © provided

He once said in an interview that the island environment calmed him down. Anyone watching Ralph Fiennes in the arthouse film "A Bigger Splash" can hardly confirm this: He plays a music producer who climbs onto the roof of a dammuso, dances like a berserker to the Rolling Stones and can't find himself at all. Luca Guadagnino shot the film at Tenuta Borgia, a simple and luxurious hotel complex where guests still find discretion and distance today. The director wanted to shed light on the contrasts of human existence - no other island seemed to him to be a better setting for this.

The "Parco dei Sesi" was founded by Margot and Massimiliano Panseca, who met while on vacation on the island © beigestellt

The absence of flashy distractions on Pantelleria means that you have to face the landscape. Holidaymakers hike through the national park, which covers three quarters of the island; in the fall, they observe the migratory birds that stop here on their way to Africa. In spring, guests explore the wooded hills around the 836-metre-high Montagna Grande on mountain bikes, lie down in one of the many thermal springs, the so-called Favare, which relax the body (if you can ignore the smell of sulphur). Visitors spend the summer on kayaks and excursion boats, diving with dolphins or sea turtles and looking for secluded bays for a midday rest.

In the "Parco dei Sesi" you can book a boat to go on excursions at sea© beigestellt

Pantelleria is not a vacation destination for everyone. Only if you can embrace authenticity in all its facets, you'll fall for the charm of this island - and then come back for a lifetime. 

Read more: Italy: Diving paradise Sardinia