Gorgona Agricultural Penal Colony also home to a vegetable garden and olive tree grove where olive oil is produced, as well as livestock facilities which high quality cheese, chicken and pork is produced. The island is named after the Gorgons of Greek mythology which were three sisters, Medusa, Stheno and Euryale, who had hair made of venomous snakes that could turn any observer into stone. Since the 4th century AD, Gorgona has been home to various monastic orders including the Benedictines until it finally came under the influence of the Carthusians in the 14th century. Eventually the Gorgona Abbey was abandoned in 1425 though
Sisters of Mary of the Presentation for elderly Sisters. Before the remaining Sisters could be evicted, World War I (1914-1918) broke out and spread across Europe. The Motherhouse was conscripted by the government for use as a military hospital, named “Complementary Hospital #42.” Because the government had seized the Sisters’ possessions the Motherhouse had no furnishings, so the Sisters appealed to the people of Broons. Days before the first wounded arrived the townsfolk of Broons, and other nearby communities, donated the furnishings necessary for the Sisters to care for the wounded. Many of the Sisters exiled to foreign lands returned to care for the wounded soldiers.