Lipari Islands

Lipari Islands, known also as the ÆOLIAN ISLANDS, a volcanic group in the Mediterranean, consisting of half-a-dozen larger and numerous smaller islands, with an aggregate area of 116 sq. m., and situated off the north coast of Sicily, north-west of Messina. They rise to 3170 feet above the level of the sea; many of the smaller islands form part of the rim of a gigantic crater. The ancient classical poets localised in these islands the abode of the fiery god Vulcan—hence their ancient name, Vulcaniæ Insulæ. Their collective population is 18,000, of whom nearly 8000 belong to the island of Lipari (area, 32 sq. m.), the most important of the group. The next in size are Vulcano, Stromboli, Salina, Filicudi, Alicudi, and Panaria. The principal products of the islands are grapes, figs, olives, wine (Malmsey), borax, pumice-stone, and sulphur. The warm springs are much resorted to, and the climate is delightful. Lipari, the chief town, is a bishop's see and a seaport, and has 4968 inhabitants. Stromboli (3022 feet) is almost constantly active; Vulcano (1017 feet) is so intermittently; the rest are extinct.