Brief history of the Isle of Elba
It is hard to find another island, so small, but with such a rich and troubled history. The first news about our isle come from the ancient epoque, when history and legends were indissolubly entwined.
Adriano Grande, 1935:
And, if you think about it, Elba does not really appear to be created just to give the “necessari”, but for extraordinary events, grand human purposes, includine that to be a calm prison for an emperor. Granite, iron, wine; monumental and everlasting architecture, cannon, ship and machine wars, joyful symposiums, its special nature itself, other than its strategical postition, perfect some time ago, made it the object of cruel fights among every navy force.
from: Elba d'Autore, Sandro Foresi e i grandi scrittori all'Isola d'Elba, Pacini Editore, 2005
The fate of Elba has always been conditioned by two factors: its strategical position and its richness of minerals underground. For these reasons it has often been a land of conquers for many forces wishing to prevail on the Mediterranean sea in thousands years.
For the Etruscan it was an everlasting incombe and the elban iron gave a great help to the growth of their civilization.
The Romans appreciated Elba thanks to its iron, but also thanks to its curative muds: the remainings of two noble villas confirm they were used during the family’s holiday. They are in Portoferraio and it can be worthy visiting them.
Durino the Middle Age there was the pisan domination and we still have some important and suggestive building sto defend the territori, proving how important the domination over the island was.
After them began the Appiani domination and the great attention of Cosmo de' Medici who built its Cosmopoli, now called Portoferraio, over the remainings of the Roman Fabricia, surrounding it with huge walls to oppose the pirate raids equipped with the best hydraulic technologies.
Spanish people installed themselves in Porto Azzurro – called, until just a few years ago, Porto Longone – and they worked on their territory’s defence, too building the huge forte S. Giacomo fortress, now used as a jail.
In the following centuries of the great european divisions, the Isle interested English, German and French people, too, who fought for it both with diplomacy and with weapons. The hystorical period that brought Elba to be world-known was during Napoleon’s brief exile/kingdom, who remained on the Isle 10 months before his fatidical 100 days.
Napoleon, as everybody could expect, left a great track of his stay and there are many tokens around the island, beginning, of course, from his houses.
Elba played a fundamental role in our country’s history even in last century’s begin with its iron, miners and furnace workers during the first industrial development and thanks to its navy, willing to explore the farthest seas.
Extracts from
Apt Arcipelago Toscano
