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Sea of Tuscany - Tuscan Archipelago
| The Island of
Elba, the largest of the seven sisters in the archipelago, is as full
of wonders for the visitor as it once was of iron and granite. Iron may have been its main feature in the past, as you can see in the museums and exhibitions, but now it is the sea. If exploring is what you like doing, you can get great satisfaction from looking for the many hidden inlets. You can relax on the sand glinting with different colours due to the different minerals in the earth, from turquoise stones to red and then black, and finally the white of the beach of the Argonauts, the mythical Greek travellers. There are many isolated bays and you can choose a different one every day according to which way the wind is blowing. The rocky sea-beds are magnificent with constellations of intense colours from coral seaweed, horny coral, sponges and rich marine flora where octopuses, lobsters and moray eels find shelter. Your sense of smell will also be much used with the unmistakable perfumes of the Mediterranean flora and tasty cooking accompanied by the white or red Elban DOC wines. It seems almost impossible that so much is so close at hand: there are places to stay for everyone from popular camp sites by the sea to exclusive hidden villas; it offers more than one hundred kilometres of coastline and mountains with woods and chestnuts and a peak more than one thousand metres high. Once you have seen Elba it will be difficult to tear yourself away. |
Elba |
| The Other Sisters: The other smaller sisters in the archipelago maintain the same standards as their big sister. They are places for those who love the sea. It is the biggest marine park in Europe. They are lands where nature reigns undisturbed. It would be lovely to sail from one to the other. |
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Set off from Argentario and head for the island of Giglio and you will discover the quiet south side immersed in nature and silence and spy the lively tourist resorts and the village of Giglio Castello. |
| Or you could visit the basaltic rocks of Cala Rossa, one of the most fascinating spots on Capraia. It is a volcanic island, the northernmost island in the archipelago and has practically no beaches. After having been a penal colony for over one hundred years, it is visited by many diving fans, attracted by the sea-beds under the transparent waters and the many caves. |
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The other pearls in the archipelago share the same fate. Such as Pianosa, ten square kilometres of jagged rocks and plains. Those one hundred people a day who reach it will be amazed by the imperturbable calm and absolute stillness. |
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Gorgona, the old Urgon was perhaps inhabited by the Etruscans and
for sure by the Romans as testified by the ruins of a building in the
Piano dei Morti. During the middle ages Benedettini and Cistercensi monks
built monasteries. From this island king Desiderio carried to Brescia the
body of St Giulia who was martyrized 3 centuries before in Corsica. In the
1283 the island went under the domain of Pisa which built the old tower
and later in 1406 was occupied by the Medicis who built Fortifications.
The Certosini kept it until 1777 when the Grand duke
Pietro Leopoldo redeemed the island and tried with no success to
repopulate it . In 1869 it was finally transformed in an agricultural
penal colony. Gorgona is still a penal colony and can only be visited with
organised, authorised tours. |
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Montecristo is quite another story. This paradise island has been declared a bio-genetic natural reserve by the European parliament and as such can only be visited by one thousand people a year. |
| You can reach the little old harbour of Giannutri and spend
some unforgettable time there by the cliffs moulded by nature and among
the mosaics of the grandiose Roman villa. So, get ready to set sail, this paradise awaits you. |
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