Palmarola

{{Short description|Italian island}}

{{Infobox islands

| name = Palmarola

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| image_name = Palmarola.JPG

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| map_image = Pontine Islands map.png

| map_caption = Palmarola and the Pontine Islands

| coordinates = {{coord|40.937|12.858|type:isle_scale:20000|display=inline,title}}

| etymology =

| location = Tyrrhenian Sea

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| archipelago = Pontine Islands

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| country = Italy

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Palmarola is a craggy, mostly uninhabited island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy. It is the second-largest of the Pontine Islands and located about {{convert|10|km|mi}} west from Ponza. In antiquity it was known as Palmaria.{{cite web |url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/433008 |title=Places: 433008 (Palmaria (island)) |author=Purcell, N. |access-date=August 9, 2020 |publisher=Pleiades}}

Palmarola has an extremely rocky coast dotted with natural grottos, bays, cliffs, and crags. The island is primarily a nature reserve, but there are a handful of ports where boats can land and one restaurant that cater to tourists during the summer season. Palmarola has a few small beaches.

The famous French explorer and oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau appointed Palmarola as "The most Beautiful Island in the Mediterranean Sea"{{Cite web|url = http://www.italia.it/it/media/video/palmarola-al-di-la-delle-terre-abitate.html|title = Palmarola, al di là delle terre abitate|date = 2010-06-01|website = Sito ufficiale del turismo in Italia|language = it-IT|access-date = 2016-04-01}}

Pope Silverius was exiled to and died on Palmarola in 538.{{sfn|Richards|1979|p=130}}