Montecristo, << `mawnt` ee KRIHS toh, >> is a small, barren Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Tuscany. Part of a group of islands called the Tuscan Archipelago, Montecristo covers 4 square miles (10 square kilometers). Its granite cliffs rise 2,000 feet (610 meters) above sea level. The island gained fame through the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-1845) by the French writer Alexandre Dumas père. Benedictine monks once had a monastery on Montecristo, but pirates attacked them and took over in 1553. More than 300 years later, the Italian government tried and failed to establish a penal colony (prison settlement) there. Today, the island is a nature preserve with a permanent population of only a few park rangers.
