Montecristo Island

island, Italy

Also known as: Isola di Montecristo, Oglasa

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Italian:: Isola Di Montecristo

Latin:: Oglasa

See all related content

Montecristo Island, member of the Arcipelago Toscano, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, between the Italian mainland and Corsica, south of the island of Elba. Part of Livorno province, the islet is mountainous, rising to 2,116 ft (645 m), with an area of 6 sq mi (16 sq km). It is a hunting preserve owned by the state and contains the ruins of a 13th-century monastery that was abandoned in 1553 after having been destroyed by pirates. The island was made famous by the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.