Napoleon's island of exile and its Medici port
Elba, the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, is an hour by ferry from Piombino. Its main town, Portoferraio, was fortified by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1548 as Cosmopolis: the star-shaped walls, the Forte Falcone and the Forte Stella still enclose the old town and the horseshoe-shaped harbour of the Darsena.
From May 1814 to February 1815 Elba was the small kingdom of Napoleon Bonaparte, exiled after his defeat. In ten months he reorganised the island's roads, mines and administration. His town residence, the Palazzina dei Mulini, overlooks the sea, and his summer residence, Villa San Martino, stands in the countryside a few kilometres away; both are museums.
Tip: every 5 May a mass in the church of the Misericordia remembers Napoleon's death; the island's iron mines, exploited since the Etruscans, can be visited at Rio Marina and Capoliveri.
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