The most important centre of the Island, with its 11,000 inhabitants, is Portoferraio .which develops and overlooks the great gulf.

This fortunate position justifies the presence of the Romans who settled here and called it Fabricia. The site of the Villa Romana Delle Grotte and the ruins of the Villa alla Linguella are the testimony of a great past.

Known then as Feraia in the medieval period, saw its revival with the advent of Cosimo de 'Medici, who in 1548 began the great development of Portoferraio through the construction of massive fortifications that still mark the urban layout of the city: Forte Falcone, Forte Stella, the Martello Tower and many other forts and buttresses. From this immense engineering feat, Feraia in 1594 took the name of Cosmopolis: it was the city of Cosmo or Greek "Cosmos", harmony, it was in every respect a masterpiece of military architecture.

Another presence that marked the history of Portoferraio was that of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was in the old city, between the Forte Stella and Falcone in a splendid panoramic position, that the Emperor chose his official residence: Villa Dei Mulini that still offers the possibility of being visited and to get closer to the myth of Napoleon. The alternative residence to campaign was in San Martino, a few km from Portoferraio, completely surrounded by greenery. Wherever there is the memory of the passing of the great Emperor who in just 10 months of his reign profoundly marked the history of Elba Island to the point that the flag is still the same today expressly desired by Napoleon to honour the hard work of the inhabitants. In the church of Reverenda Misericordia built in 1677 by the brotherhood, as well as the relics of the city saint of the city, San Cristino martyr, there is the bronze mask of Napoleon brought by his personal physician Dr

Antommarchi from Saint Helena. In memory of this glorious page of history, every year on May 5th is celebrated a Mass in memory of Napoleon.

Portoferraio takes in his name what has characterized its recent development of iron and steel industrial centre, which is why the momentum of tourism has known much later than other places on the island keeping their identities intact. The historic centre of the city within the walls of the Medici has preserved the peasant, honest, full of scents and colours, and along with numerous churches, fortresses, the Roman ruins blend perfectly with the new personality of Portoferraio, the main port and capital of the Island.

Very interesting to visit are the sixteenth-century churches of the Holy Sacrament  built in 1551 within which you can find a votive temple dedicated to those who died during the First World War , and St. Roch with its small cemetery where were buried the victims of pestilence and executed.
Not to be missed are also: the Roman Villa in Le Grotte place (I cent.), The Archaeological Museum of Linguella and the Roman Villa, the Romanesque Church of St. Stefano Alle Trane - Loc. The Trane (XII sec.), The fortress on the high seas of the 'pre-Roman age - Loc. S. Martino, International Art Centre of Italo Bolano - Loc. St. Martino, the Art Pinacoteca Foresiana, Salita Napoleone, the Foresiana Library, the Municipal Palace.

Market day: Friday.

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Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa

Marciana is certainly the most diverse of the municipalities of the Island, including several villages in its territory very different from each other.
On the northern slopes of Monte Capanne, Marciana at an altitude of 375 m and the small village of Poggio, perfectly preserved their medieval appearance characterized by the installation of urban houses attached to each other, squares, tight granite alleys leaving the few access doors open.

Of ancient origins (35 BC) Marciana, thanks to its strategic position on the high ground that made it more protected from the incursions of pirates, saw its first flowering with Pisani first then with the Princes of Piombino, the Appiani who made it their residence and from here ruled  more than half of the island including Pianosa. Following a trail that leaves from the village you can reach the Sanctuary of Madonna del Monte in a short time, the most ancient of Elba Island, already in 1300 place of worship; it was built in 1595, renovated several times to then take on the current form in 1799; it was made famous by Napoleon's brief summer holiday during which he met his mistress Maria Walewska. You can also visit the Pisan Fortress in the twelfth century, the Archaeological Museum where the remains of the ancient past are preserved in this amazing land, the Park House.

After centuries of working iron, the calling of the inhabitants of Marciana was the herding and agriculture. Like the rest of Elba Island, also here the advent of tourism has determined a big change and it is exactly in Poggio village that we can determine the birth of the tourism in Elba Island. The country has a very interesting feature which is a pure natural spring WITH curative properties: the "Source Napoleon,” real asset already known and appreciated by Napoleon Bonaparte. This source, together with a temperate microclimate, made Poggio ​​a real resort, which, with the construction of the spa and the first hotel in Elba Island, attracted the first tourists. A short walk from the cemetery of Poggio leads us to the hermitage of San Cerbone, very impressive place built in honour of the saint who in 572 took refuge in these places escaping the arrival of the Lombards in Populonia. In the village of Poggio is very interesting to visit the Church of St. Nicholas, a very charming place and classic example of an ancient fortified church.
Worth visiting the Church of San Lorenzo, a true national monument, this Romanesque church was destroyed by the Turks in 1554.
The other towns in the district are very charming seaside resorts: St. Andrea, Patresi, Chiessi, Pomonte, and Procchio.

With the end of the danger of pirate raids and then obtained its independence in 1884 from Marciana, Marciana Marina conforms as an autonomous entity and begins to develop around the two historic symbols of its territory: the Tower of Pisa in the twelfth century and the core living history "The Cotton" built around a small cove that offered a safe harbour for fishing boats.
Among the most common small size district of Italy, Marciana Marina is characterized in its historic core, which remains one of the "Cotton" with its colourful houses close to each other that look out over the sea, in the centre with the Church Santa Chiara, in the extensive waterfront where you can see nineteenth-century architectural features and you can find rows of tamarisk trees, which accompany us to the tower.
His vocation was long linked to the agriculture and fisheries, but the advent of tourism on the island radically changed his appearance both territorial and economic.
Very interesting is the visit to the beach in the locality of Bagno, where once stood one of the many tunny –fishing nets of Elba Island. The tuna fishing was in fact the one that assumed a relevant character in the economy of the island. Products derived from this fishery products were exported in large quantities.
Completely open to the sea from the northwest to northeast, thanks to the construction of the dam at the beginning of '900, has over time become an important and safe harbour, the first of Corsica last landing.
Market day: Tuesday

Recognized as an independent municipality until 1906, Capoliveri has a fascinating history of independence. The etymology of its name dates back to the Latin "Caput Liberum" which means the top of the free: perched on a small hill was in fact inhabited by Roman slaves confined which found their freedom here.
Its strategic position that allows the town of Capoliveri to overlook both the Bay of Porto Azzurro and the Gulf Star, characterized its very ancient origins, , dating back first to the Greeks and Phoenicians navigators  attracted by copper and iron, then to the construction of one of several offshore Etruscan fortresses. Later on the town became Capoliveri: it is an ancient castle fortified by the Pisans in the twelfth century
Its urban layout within the ancient walls was characterized by the geometric rationality typical of the Latin tradition of building, but during the Middle Ages the village clung around the highest part which is the square from which then branched a series of fishbone alleys, streets and squares.
The oldest testimonies are represented by two places of worship: The Church of St. Michael dating from the twelfth century, of which we have only parts of the apse and the foundation, where it is said that Pope Gregory XI, passing by and finding a repair from a storm, he celebrated Mass and the Sanctuary of Madonna Delle Grazie in the mid-sixteenth century, made of cross plan and crowned by a dome, especially in oriental style.
A spectacular party in sixteenth century costumes, which is celebrated on July 14, is certainly a major event commemorating the tragic story of love. In 1534 the young Lorenzo scion of a noble family was kidnapped by the pirate Barbarossa, in a desperate attempt to follow him, his bride Maria jumped into the sea, drowning in the waves.
Market day: Thursday.

It was in 1947 that the inhabitants realized their desire to change the name of their country, so from the ashes of Porto Longone Porto Azzurro was born.
Natural port used since ancient times in the ancient Tyrrhenian routes, Porto Azzurro derives its existing urban structure from the Spanish domination. The Fort Longone also called Fort S.Giacomo was built in 1563 by order of Philip II of Spain with a feature that is reminiscent of the star shaped citadel of Antwerp. Seventy years later, at the behest of the Spanish governor Don Focardo, the second bulwark was built on the western tip of the bay, Fort Focardo.
Subsequent political events took Porto Longone to be under various domains, even with the torment of constant pirate raids. It was disputed until 1802 when the entire island became French. Later on, under the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the country became a penal colony.
Starting from the picturesque main square overlooking the sea, the country grows in characteristic narrow streets and picturesque corners that give way to the imposing Spanish fortress of the XVII century, Fort St. James, the current seat of the house of confinement.
Have to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, whose relationship with the homonymous sanctuary near Barcelona is honest with the perfect reproduction of the image of the Spain Virgin, built in the seventeenth century by the Spanish governor y Leon, and the Spanish Church with the marble monument of General Diego Alarcson.
There are many excursions that can be made, among them a visit to the Lake of Terranera and Montserrat.
Market day: Saturday.

Perched on the slopes of Mount Capannello to 180 meters on the sea level, Rio nell'Elba is one of the oldest villages of the island that inextricably binds her story to the valuable mineral deposits, classified as real geological monuments by UNESCO and included in the "World Provisional List of Geological Heritage Sites.”
Already inhabited in the Bronze Age, bears witness to this in the locality. St. Joseph one of the most important Italian necropolis ever found, whose relics are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum in the country.
The fame of this small town lies in its iron mines dating back to the Etruscan period. The Pisans, considering it an economic capital for these reasons, fortified it creating the nucleus of the church of SS Giacomo and Quirico Martyr and structuring all the houses as fortified bastions. Destroyed by the pirate Barbarossa in 1534 and then re-fortified during the reign of the Appiani, remained the mining centre of the island until closure of the mines in 1981.
Another important sign of the domination of Pisa is the Castle of Volterraio ever captured by pirates, built in the eleventh century by Vanni di Gherardo Rau, on pre-existing Etruscan ruins on top of a 380 m cliff overlooking the Gulf of Portoferraio.
In the sixteenth century, the Hermitage of Santa Caterina was built on the slopes of Monte Serra near the ancient town of Grassera, medieval village completely destroyed by pirates in 1500. Hermitage which now houses the interesting "ORTO DEI SEMPLICI", scientific place of preservation, study and research of plants of the Mediterranean. Very interesting are the old washing, fed by abundant spring waters of the CANALI source . And it was precisely because of this wealth of spring water that many mills were built over time - as many as 22 - who took the name from the current VALLE DEI MULINI.
Rio nell'Elba was not flattened by the advent of tourism and has maintained its charming characteristics of a medieval village.
Market day: Tuesday.

The "Iron Capital of the" for excellence, Rio Marina is a relatively young district, born after gaining independence in 1882 from Rio nell'Elba.
You can trace the birth of the country in the eighteenth century when the activities of mining-related business were moved from Rio nell'Elba towards the sea.
The territory of Rio Marina is definitely the one who has suffered more human intervention, seeing completely changed progressively and substantially its conformation, which in time took on the characteristics of its mining area.
The advent of tourism in the sixties generated a substantial change to the economy of Rio Marina, which is still able to maintain its original character.
Of particular interest is the Port Tower built around 1534 by James V Appiani, characterized by an octagonal plan and a clock face on each side added to the late nineteenth century. Also noted in the Port area is the Latin cross Church of San Rocco of the sixteenth century..
A visit is definitely worth the Mineralogical Museum in the palace of the Bureau, which has exposure of 700 types of minerals of Elba.
In the fraction CAVO, the northernmost town of the island, we indicate the presence of the remains of an ancient Roman villa dating from the first century. B.C. and the second century. AD, and the valuable Mausoleum Tonietti on Mount Lenisco constructed by the famous architect Adolfo Coppedè.
Market Days: Monday in the centre, on Wednesday in the fraction of CAVO

Numerose le manifestazioni che si svolgono durante l'estate in tutta l'isola.

Concerti, rappresentazioni teatrali, spettacoli di strada, mostre, feste gastronomiche e balli nelle piazze, avvenimenti sportivi, incontri con personaggi della cultura.

Vi segnaliamo in particolar modo la Festa della Gastronomia e il Festival Internazionale di Musica classica e jazz a settembre.

Per consultare i principali eventi della stagione estiva potete collegarvi con Elbalink, il portale dell'isola d'Elba, in collaborazione la rivista ProntoElba.