Today, only a thousand tourists are allowed to visit the island each year under a tightly-controlled permit system.
Over the years, donations from several noble families made the monastery powerful and rich.
Over the centuries many have attempted to find Draguts treasures, but no one has ever been successful.
It was this legend of hidden treasure that inspired Alexandre Dumas to writeThe Count of Monte Cristo.
Dumas arrived on the island in 1842, in the company of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew.
Dantes escapes the prison, finds the treasure and buys himself the title of Count of Montecristo.
He then proceeds to exact revenge on the men who framed him as a traitor.
The rat eradication effort was largely successful, and Montecristo is nowreportedlythe largest rat-free island in the Mediterranean.
