OFF SICILY : ''INCREDIBLE PERFECT ISLAND''

IT is located within a protected marine park that is a hit with both scuba divers and snorkelers due to its vibrant marine life and the ancient Roman relics that lie on the sea bed.

A rugged private island off the coast of Sicily that boasts a 17th-century watch tower and medieval ruins has hit the market for Pound 1.7 million.

The island, called Isola delle Femmine, is an uninhabited, wild 37-acre-atoll, almost 1,000 feet from the mainland close to the city of Palermo.

It is located within a protected marine park that is a hit with both scuba divers and snorkelers due to its vibrant marine life and the ancient Roman relics that lie on the sea bed.

The island's focal point is a watch tower on top of a grassy hill that had been part of a defense network around Sicily against pirates.

In the second World War, the tower was extensively damaged and was later used as a military outpost for the US Navy.

The building has been abandoned, but the agent listing the island, Romolini Immobiliare, says there is cope to fully restore it.

Other features of the Island include ancient Greek and Roman states as well as a private beach.

Its name translates into English as  ''island of women''  as legend has it that  13 Turkish criminal maidens were cast adrift on the island as a punishment for their bad behaviour.

The island is being sold by  Italian countess Paola Pilo Bacel, whose family have  owned the land since the 1600s.She is selling up as the family no longer use for holidays.

The island at first had been put on the market for ever  Pound 3 million but the asking price has now been lowered to interest more buyers.

Agent Riccardo Romilini, who is marketing the property told CNN Travel : ''The price at first was  3.5 million, but the asking price but given nobody showed up we've now lowered it to a flexible range between  1....and.......3 million  [Pound 857,000 and Pound 2.5 million] open to offers and negotiations.

''Anywhere close to.............2 million  [Pound 1.7 million]  we'd be very interested. In the listing, the agent also suggests that the island could be the perfect trophy asset'. [Courtesy Daily Mail].