Part of the fortification of the Monastero, the monastery, built in the VII century, during 1200 had an important religous influence on Tuscany, Sardinia and Corsica. In 1500 due to the frequent Turkish invasion the monastery was fortified. In 1553 Dragut, a Turkish pirate conquered the convent reducing in slavery the monks. Montecristo is the most distant island of the Tuscan Arcipelago form the Italian coast. It's a cone of granite with rugge valleys and peaks, the highest, Monte Fortezza is 654 meters. It has been a wildlife reserve since 1971. Federico Scoppa/CAPTA