The empty cells of Fornelli.

Renowned for its indigenous albino donkeys, from which the name of the island is said to have originated, Asinara is also notorious for its history as a place of seclusion, and was even turned into a penitentiary during its most recently inhabited years.

The island has since been declared a protected natural reserve and you can only visit it in the company of a licensed guide. Without human intervention, it seems to be returning to its ancient origins as nature reclaims its landscape.

Located off the northwestern tip of Sardinia, Asinara’s territory covers some 52 square kilometres and it belongs to the government.

The island can be reached by boat from the nearby coastal village of Stintino, located in Sassari province. Guided tours are possible using bicycles, 4x4s, touristic trains, kayaks and boats.

Considering the heat and the fact that we were only going to spend a day there, we opted for the comfortable and colourful tourist train that was scheduled to take us to the most prominent areas.

Asinara’s vegetation and climate are typically Mediterranean but in some rocky coastal areas, you can also identify an endemic plant species of Sardinia, known as fiordaliso spinoso.

The native albino donkeys are regularly observed roaming freely and feeding on shrubs. Visitors can also see the typical Sardinian donkey, which is generally smaller and has a brownish colour with a black stripe on its back.

Be on the lookout for wild pigs, sheep, goats and horses; the latter having been liberated by Asinara’s prison guards once the penitentiary was closed down.

Traces of human habitation on Asinara go back to prehistoric times, as the site of Campu Perdu confirms. Moreover, due to its strategic central position in the Mediterranean, the island formed part of the history of the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Romans.

Asinara was also habitually frequented by pirates, and legend has it that the granite castle that dominates the highest point of the island had served for some time as the residence of the famous Barbarossa.

Inhabited by shepherds for many years, the island became government property in the 19th century and a lazaretto for victims of contagious diseases was built.

Soon after, Asinara was also selected as a place of exile for a number of prisoners. Eventually, these arrangements led the shepherds to leave the island and most of them formed the nearby village of Stintino on the mainland.

During World War I, Asinara was turned into a prison for about 24,000 Austrian and Hungarian soldiers, 5,000 of whom died on the island.

Some years later, during the 1970s, the prisons on the island were restructured to become high-security facilities, where some of the most dangerous criminals were detained, including members of the Brigate Rosse and the Mafia, the most infamous of whom was Sicilian godfather Totò Riina.

Some of the most dangerous criminals were detained here, including members of the Brigate Rosse and the Mafia

It was on this island too that the magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino had resided as part of the security measures which were taken during the prominent Mafia trials during that period.

Finally, in 1997, Asinara was declared a protected nature reserve and nobody else, except the few guardians who take care of the island, were allowed to live there.

A tour will reveal several of the constructions that once served various functions in Asinara’s history. Some structures have been completely abandoned and are in ruins, while others, such as the high-security prisons, have been restored as tourist attractions.

In these prisons, visitors can experience the conditions in which the inmates used to live under constant supervision. You can’t help reacting when you enter Riina’s cell.

A similarly strong emotion is felt on entering the building of the old prison of Fornelli, where you can visit the high-security cells and view some photos of ‘trusted’ prisoners who were allowed to work in the fields and take care of the animals under the guards’ surveillance.

Eventually, we were led to Cala d’Oliva, the small village where Asinara’s workers used to reside.

Indeed, 92-year-old Franca Fadda Silvetti still remembers when she used to live there with her family. In her autobiographical book La mia Asinara: ricordi di una maestra, she describes her 33 years residing on the island while her husband Vindice was the prisons’ doctor and she taught the workers’ young children.

Interestingly, Franca has many positive memories of Asinara even though it was a penitentiary island. When I asked her whether she ever felt afraid or in danger on such a remote place inhabited by prisoners, she insisted this was never the case.

To make her point, she confirmed that some reliable prisoners were allowed to work outside the prisons during daytime and one of them used to take care of her house and babysit her young children while she was teaching.

Now that Franca is widowed, her nostalgic memories of Asinara’s beautiful environment are even stronger, yet she never found the courage to return since all the island’s inhabitants were ordered to leave.

Franca wonders whether the decision to leave the island in a state of abandonment was better than allowing it to remain inhabited by a “strange” population, as it was back in 1952, when she put her first steps on that land which remained so dear to her.

She decided to write her book in memory of the delightful moments she and her family enjoyed there, so that even today’s readers could get a glimpse of how Asinara once was.

Visitors will get the opportunity to swim in the crystal-clear waters of three beaches, which have been selected for the use of tourists.

Sizeable fish swim confidently among the visitors as if aware that they are protected in this nature reserve. In the background, from time to time, the magnificent silence on the island is pierced by the shrill neighing of donkeys.

Once the visit is over and the rented boat takes you away from Asinara, you can easily understand Franca’s nostalgia for this land, which can overwhelm you with different sensations. Should you desire a longer stay on this peculiar sanctuary, there is a small restaurant and a basic hostel.