This captivating landscape is even more breathtaking at sunset, when the sun goes down behind a Spanish tower, highlighting the hints of pink in the sand and rocks. During the day, it treats the eye to a thousand different colours in the sea and among the pebbles on the beach. This is the vision offered by the beach of Vignola Mare, in the Aglientu area, which received the Blue Flag award for water quality, environmental protection and high-quality services.

Vignola Mare was originally a fishing village and is now a tourist resort that still has uncontaminated stretches, surrounded by granite cliffs and Mediterranean scrub. Its sandy shore is divided into two parts at the point where the Vignola rivulet forms a small lake, which has a low flow rate during the summer, near a granite rock. The largest part, in front of the village, stretches for over a kilometre and features golden sand, with hints of pink due to the granite grains and mixed with pebbles smoothed by the sea. The stretch beyond the lake is also called La Turra or ‘beach of the tower’. In fact, it lies at the foot of a promontory on which a 16th-century Spanish defence tower stands.

The cove is crescent-shaped and the sand has different characteristics, as it is fine, white and soft. The sea in both sections is crystal clear, reflecting shades of blue, turquoise and emerald green, becoming deep blue offshore. The clearness of the water on the seabed makes the coast a destination for snorkelling, diving and underwater fishing enthusiasts, also because it is particularly rich in fish fauna. Meanwhile, its exposure to the winds attracts windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing lovers. Its location on the slopes of the promontory provides La Turra greater shelter.

The main stretch of the coast is full of services: large car park, well-equipped area for camper vans, refreshment areas, beach equipment and boat rentals, diving centre and access for disabled people. A path surrounded by Mediterranean scrub will lead you to the Tower of Vignola, which was built using granite ashlars to guard an ancient tuna fishery and as a lookout for barbarian incursions. From the tower, you can admire a captivating view of the sea and the hinterland, while the outline of Corsica appears on the horizon. If you look to the left, you’ll notice another little cove, with similar characteristics to La Turra, that can be reached via the same path that leads to the tower. The cove is called beach of San Silverio, due to the solitary presence, at the northern limit of the beach, of a picturesque church dedicated to the saint it is named after, built in front of the sea in the early 20th century by the fishermen of Ponza.