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San Nicola: it is the heart of the archipelago, the historical, religious and administrative centre. It is considered as an open-air museum.
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San Domino: it is the only sand beach of the archipelago. It is covered by Aleppo pines that in some places arrive to the rocks on the sea. This area is really fertile and there are many different flowers, of beautiful colours. In fact this isle was called "Orto di paradiso" (Paradise garden) by Benedictine monks. The rock of Elefante is very interesting; it has the shape of an elephant. Along the coast there are many nice caves that can be visited by boat: there is the cave of Sale (Sale means Salt, here people hid the salt they sold illegally) and that of Viole (violet). This cave at sunset is coloured with different shades of violet. In Bue Marino cave in the past there was the monk seal. Then there is Ripa dei Falconi rock: over it there are different kinds of hawks: the peregrine hawk and the hawks called ‘Diomedee’. According to a legend, ‘diomedee’ were the warriors of Diomedes (he was buried here after the Trojan War). During the dark nights, ‘diomedee’ sing: it is like a groan, a moan. People think it is the moan of warriors who lost their leader, Diomedes. In San Domino there are also beautiful beaches: Cala delle Arene, Cala degli Inglesi, Cala Matano.
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Cretaccio: it is a yellow rock, made of clay. This rock is slowly disappearing because of maritime erosion. According to a legend, in the night, especially in the stormy nights, a man walks on the rock. He shouts and moans. This man is considered the phantom of a prisoner of the old penal colony. He tried to escape but he was captured again and he was beheaded here.
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Capraia: this isle is uninhabited. The name comes from the presence of caper plants or maybe of wild goats (capre in Italian). On the top there is a great natural arch.
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La Vecchia: according to a legend, before a storm the soul of an old lady appears on the rock and she is spinning. Maybe it is the soul of a witch who owned the rock (La Vecchia means the old lady).
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Chiesa di S. Maria al Mare: this church was consecrated in 1045 by the bishop of Dragonara, together with the near abbey. The main façade has a Renaissance portal. The sculptures were made by Dalmatians artists. Inside there are the remains of a Romanic floor made of mosaics (XI-XII century). On the main altar there is a wood polypthyc made in 1400; there is also a precious Crucifix of XII century. Behind the church there are also the remains of Gothic and Renaissance cloisters. In XVIII century the abbey was suppressed and transformed into a penal colony.
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Resti di villaggi del Neolitico antico: the remains of an ancient Neolithic village are in S. Domino. There are ceramics of different kinds. There are also the remains of sepulchres with all the objects buried in them (maybe they are from the first centuries of III millennium b.C.). In front of the Western and Southern coast there are the remains of three ancient and Middle Ages ships.
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Testimonianze archeologiche a S. Nicola: the archaeological area of San Nicola contains remains from Iron Age; sepulchres from classical and Hellenistic ages and the remains of two ‘domus romanae’.
