“Il Postino” (The Postman) (1994) is the final masterpiece by Massimo Troisi, who died in his sleep only a few hours after shooting ended (Figure 4.7). The film is set in 1952, when the poet Pablo Neruda took refuge in exile in Italy to escape the dictatorship in his country, Chile.Though the p...

The term pyroclast indicates any granule produced by volcanic activity during an explosive eruption. These are formed by the fragmentation of magma due to the explosion of the gas bubbles contained within it. Pyroclasts are divided into: Bombs: if they are greater than 6.4 cm in diameter La...

Salina is an island worthy of a boat tour, where 70% of the coast that is otherwise not visible can be admired this way. Starting counter-clockwise from the bay of Pollara, towards the village of Rinella, you immediately come across a cliff around 300 metres high, completely overlooking the sea: thi...

The Perciato rock arch is a product of marine erosion over time. In fact, the arch was part of a lava flow over 25 metres high, emitted shortly before the birth of the Pollara eruptive centre. The lava flow is perpendicular to the direction of the dominant winds and seas in this part of the Tyrrhen...

The “cannizze” are simply small bamboo reeds tied together. The final effect, when they are laid out, is almost like a carpet. In the Aeolian attics, thicker bamboo reeds can be used, able to support the weight of the building material placed on top....

Beehive tombs, or tholos tombs, are funerary monuments dating back to the late Bronze Age, consisting of a circular chamber covered by a dome of rocks....

Calogerus was a hermit who, like many in Christian and Byzantine times, lived on the Aeolian Islands, especially Lipari. Calogerus was tasked with purging the island from the devils that infested it, by throwing them into the crater of Vulcano. Legends attributed him with many miracles, such as maki...

Pumice has been widely used in Aeolian architecture because of its very low weight and its very high insulating power. In the form of small stones it was used in traditional Aeolian architecture to cover the cannizze of attics, which in turn were supported by strong chestnut beams. A layer of li...

In Roman architecture, the ambulacrum is an area where walking or moving was allowed. It corresponds to the “side naves” of the churches, which allow worshippers to move around the building....

A truss is a structural element, originally made of wood, consisting of beams that fit together, forming a triangle to support a roof with sloping pitches....