Portoferraio - Elba Island

Portoferraio (LI)

Elba Island - Tuscany (Italy)

Portoferraio is a town in the province of Livorno and the capital of the Elba island with a land surface of 50.35 km2.
It is the most populous town of the island and the second largest after the municipality of Marciana, his municipality has a population of the island of Monte Cristo and the Rock of Africa.
Portoferraio was founded by Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, where the city was first named, "Cosmopolis," in 1548, conceived as a military garrison in order to defend the coast of Grand Duchy and the island of Elba.
The city began as little more than a set of fortifications (still well preserved and date to visit) as the three forts: Forte Stella, Forte Falcone and Linguella (English while Fort was built later to reinforce the town by in view of the siege of the British fleet) and the beautiful wall, whose remains are still in good condition and made habitable, surrounding the historic center of Portoferraio.
Remained under the control of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the eighteenth century when the island for its strategic position, was in the middle of a war between France, Austria and England. In 1814 the island was given to Napoleon Bonaparte as the site of his first exile. Napoleon chose as the capital of Portoferraio, in the city are still present and the two villas that were visited his residence.
It was thanks to the French Emperor, albeit brief (1814-1815), Portoferraio, which grew in importance and modernity exponentially as the rest of the island, thanks to built infrastructure and exploitation of iron mines of Rio Marina . In this period became the Portoferraio harbor for the transport of iron from the mines of Elba to the mainland, and hence the current name.
Portoferraio later returned under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the unification of Italy in 1860.
Portoferraio experienced a period economically stable as the whole island because of the iron mines until the early '70s, when the iron industry went into crisis. Quickly mines were dismantled (the last was closed in 1981), but Portoferraio, thanks to the beauty of its beaches, the tourism industry was able to recycle, which still represents the main source of wealth.