History History

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis settles on the island of Elba, then connected to the mainland. Archaeological excavations have unearthed tools and artefacts (kept in the Archaeological Museum of Marciana) attesting to human presence as early as the Stone Age.

The age of metals begins, weapons made of copper are discovered. Peasants and shepherds live in the first village communities and defend their property together against looters. The Bronze Age brought about a considerable development of civilization, accompanied by waves of migration: Etruscan peoples were added to the Ligurians.

On the Capanne mountain there were many villages inhabited by populations dedicated to breeding and weaving.

The Phoenicians and the Greeks, great navigators, landed on the island of Elba to look for stones for the decoration of houses, jewelry and other ornaments. A piece of ore from Elba was discovered in Ischia, an ancient Greek colony.

During the Iron Age, the island knew an extraordinary development because of its richness in ore. The Etruscans took possession of the island of Elba, then called Aithaleia, in search of raw material for their production of weapons. They exploited the abundant ore deposits and developed a real "iron Etruria" on the island.

In the eyes of the Etruscans, Elba represented an inexhaustible source of wealth. From the 8th century BC, they exploited the island's mineral resources and exported iron throughout the Mediterranean basin, thus contributing to the great prosperity of this brilliant civilization.
Day and night, the fire of the furnaces of zinc and iron blazed on Aithaleia, "the sparkling island" or "the black island of soot". This monopoly of the iron brings an immense wealth to the Etruscans, but also the military peace. Not to be on their "black list" of the trade of the weapons and the tools, no people dares to face them.
The Etruscan civilization organized the territory of the island in a series of fortified villages(oppida in Latin), dedicated to the control of the maritime and terrestrial trade of iron, extracted on the eastern slope of the Elba.

The Roman Empire followed and continued the extraction of ore and added the extraction of granite blocks in the west. The island was renamed Liva because of its lunar landscape.

Under Roman rule, the island became "Iiva... inexhaustis Chalybum generosa metallis", as Virgil wrote in theAeneid. The clouds of smoke from the furnaces continue to darken the sky, but the supply of fuel is increasingly complicated because of the deforestation of forests. The Etruscans have indeed left hills without trees.
Then develops the work of granite in the west of the island, where blocks are removed from the mountains and rolled on tree trunks to the port. The granite elbois becomes prized and decorates prestigious places like the columns of the Pantheon in Rome or the baptistery of Pisa.
The Romans were the first to really take advantage of Elba, as evidenced by the thermal baths found on the coast, as well as the luxurious villas: Villa della Linguella, Villa delle Grotte (Portoferraio), Villa di Capo Castello (Cavo)...
Other evidence of the Roman world on the island are the wrecks of naves onerariae dating back to the Republican (2nd-1st centuries BC) and Imperial (2nd-3rd centuries AD) periodsC.) and imperial (I-III centuries AD), found in Sant'Andrea, Chiessi and Procchio.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a long and dark period began with little historical information about the island of Elba.
At this time dates back the colonization of the Tuscan archipelago by the first Christian hermits: Mamiliano, Bishop of Palermo, took refuge on the island of Montecristo around 460, while Cerbone, Bishop of Populonia, sought asylum in the valley between Marciana and Poggio, in the Grotta del Santo.

Invasion of the Germans fleeing the Huns. The Elba is included in the kingdom of the Ostrogoths.

Invasion of the Lombards.

Charlemagne, after defeating the last king of the Lombards, Desiderius, puts an end to the kingdom. The Franks donated the island to Pope Leo III.

A great disorder occurs following the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire and the successive invasions of Saracen pirates. In 874, however, the Pisans dominated the Muslim fleets, and the fledgling Republic of Pisa obtained from the Papacy the protectorate over the northern Tyrrhenian Sea.

The island of Elba is offered to the Pisans by Pope Benedict VIII to thank them for fighting and defeating the pirates.

A major naval battle took place in 1003 between the Pisans and Commander Mujahid, which ended in a crushing victory for Pisa. But a few years later, in 1016, the same Mujahid invaded the island, killing and deporting a large part of the population.
The island was devastated and depopulated as a result of these relentless invasions. The survivors live in hiding and do not trust the peace that lasted three centuries under the sovereignty of Pisa.

Increasingly powerful, Pisa held absolute sovereignty over the Tuscan archipelago from the eleventh century. Corsica and Sardinia would subsequently come under Pisan rule a few years later (1034).
Elba became a captaincy, and was divided into four parishes. Many religious buildings, built in the rural areas and supposed to guarantee the security of the population, date from this period, such as San Lorenzo, San Giovanni Battista and the church of Santa Maria del Monte. Nevertheless, the Elbois were so afraid of the Saracen invasions that they lived hidden in the heights; hence the construction of several Pisan fortresses in the heights.
In 1284, off the coast of Livorno, the battle of Meloria broke out, which saw the Genoese prevail against the Pisans; Corsica and Elba were then attached to Genoa. But, in 1299, Pisa obtained again the possession of the island through a mercantile compromise concluded with the Genoese. During the 14th century, Elba continued to be managed by the Pisan government. The exploitation of iron mines and granite quarries also continued. In Pisa, most of the columns of the famous monuments in Piazza dei Miracoli were carved in San Piero in Campo, on the slopes of Mount Capanne

The war between Guelphs and Ghibellines rages in Tuscany; the Appiano dynasty (lords of Piombino, Pianosa and Montecristo) takes control of the island, always under the threat of piracy (especially that of the Turkish pirate Barbarossa).

The Elbo population did not escape the bubonic plague pandemic, transmitted by fleas, which infected the whole of Europe between 1347 and 1352. This disaster considerably reduced the number of islanders, as attested by several Pisan documents.

In 1392, the chancellor of the Republic of Pisa, Jacopo Appiano, had Pietro Gambacorti, lord of Pisa, murdered. Jacopo's son, Gherardo Appiano, ceded the city in 1399 to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan. The latter sold Pisa to the Republic of Florence in 1405 for the considerable price of 200,000 florins. Elba remained in the hands of the Appiano family, who chose Marciana as a place to represent their political and commercial interests, thanks to the wide view of the sea and the Piombino canal.
In 1509, the Appiano family evolved from a lordship to a principality; its territories became an imperial fief under the protection of Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. This was followed by a period marked by Turkish raids: in 1534 in particular, Khayr ad-Din, better known as Barbarossa, invaded Elba, destroying the mining center of Gràssera.

Charles V, a powerful Christian prince, began to fight the pirates. He attacked Tunis, the main Saracen port, and freed 22,000 Christian slaves. Many Elbes owed their survival to the Habsburg emperor. But this war was costly and required a loan from Cosme I de Medici: the island of Elba was given in exchange in 1548.

A passionate master builder, Cosimo I de' Medici fortified the island to curb the phenomenon of piracy. Feraja was renamed Cosmopoli and became an impregnable bastion. This strategic port became the most important naval base in the Mediterranean. The fortification works started in May 1548 under the direction of the architect Bellucci, and made Portoferraio the only city on the island able to resist the terrible Turkish pirate known as Dragut, who sacked Elba in 1553 and 1555.

The people of Elba were then subjected to three masters: the Appianos, who once again obtained possession of the island; the Medici, who remained in power in Cosmopoli (Portoferraio); and the Hapsburgs of Spain, who occupied Porto Longone (Porto Azzurro).

After the declaration of war by France against Spain (Thirty Years War), the French, in search of strategic bases in the Tyrrhenian Sea, stormed Porto Azzurro.

Charles II, last king of Spain of the Habsburg dynasty, built a fortification in Porto Azzurro: Forte Focardo.

Austrian and Spanish regiments occupied the island. At the beginning of the 18th century, the island of Elba was still divided between the domination of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the principality of Piombino.

The Elba is under the control of the Kingdom of Naples.

Under the reign of Louis XV, Corsica became French, which strongly displeased the English who occupied the island of Elba many times. At the end of the 18th century, the hostilities between France and England crystallized around Elba.

The peace treaty signed in Amiens between England, Holland, Spain and France put an end to the arm wrestling in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The "iron island", fragmented between several powers for more than 250 years, finally arrived in the hands of France.

Napoleon Bonaparte, proclaimed consul for life and hereditary emperor of the French, offered his older sister the principality of Piombino. Elisa, from then on mistress of the island of Elba, revived the activity of iron ore extraction, necessary for the weapons of war for her brother.

Following the failure of the Russian campaign, Bonaparte, forced to abdicate, was deposed by the Senate.

By the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the former Emperor Napoleon obtained ownership of the island of Elba, which had been erected as a principality, in exchange for his abdication. He was granted a small army among his Old Guard.

300 days of exile during which Napoleon reigned on the island of Elba (see the file Napoleon and the island of Elba).

It should be noted that Napoleon chose Elba because the island was French territory, many of his soldiers lived there and his sister, Elisa, was in Tuscany. For 300 days, the sovereign ruled meticulously over his kingdom of a few square kilometers. But he only thought of regaining power in Paris, aware of the unpopularity of Louis XVIII, of the instability among the European powers, of the threats to the achievements of the Revolution and of the infidelity of Marie-Louise of Austria, his wife. On February 26, 1815, informed by spies and taking advantage of the absence of the English representative in Portoferraio, Bonaparte escaped from the island of Elba on board the Inconstant and landed in Golfe-Juan, near Antibes. His return to power lasted 100 days until Waterloo.

The Congress of Vienna re-established the possession of Tuscany and Elba to the house of Habsburg.

The island is annexed to the kingdom of Italy, led by Victor-Emmanuel II. Long years of poverty and emigration followed, until the construction of blast furnaces in Portoferraio finally gave the island a new economic boom. Annual iron production in the 1910s was around 850,000 tonnes.

During the First World War, the Elbe suffered only one attack, on 23 May 1916, from an Austrian submarine bombing Portoferraio. But hundreds of young Elbois are recruited on the battlefields and, on the island, forced labour in the mines to make cast iron and steel, necessary for war material, causes a lot of damage.

After the Allied landings and the fascist collapse in Italy, the Germans bombed and occupied the island.
The industrial installations were destroyed during the Second World War during Operation Brassard, carried out by the Allies from 17 to 19 June 1944. The island of Elba was an outpost for German troops and was defended "to the last man and the last cartridge," wrote German commander Feldmarschall Kesselring.

Creation of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno to finance public works and infrastructure in southern Italy, from which the island of Elba benefits. This economic development fund enables the construction and modernisation of tourist facilities. In the 1950s, the first tourists discovered the island. This was the beginning of a period of peace which, in just a few decades, transformed the face of the island we see today.

The effects of the subsidies are significant, the Elbe has successfully converted from heavy industry to tourism.

The island is going through the crisis of tourism in Italy without a hitch, and is moving more and more towards environmental protection.

The National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago (Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano) is created, it is the largest marine park in Europe (18,000 hectares of land and 56,766 hectares of sea).

Severe flooding caused by storms caused damage in the millions.

A referendum on the unification of the island of Elba into a single municipality was submitted to the Elbois. 75% of the islanders voted against it.

Bicentenary of Napoleon's arrival on the Elbe. All summer long, the island lived to the rhythm of commemorations and parades in period costumes. 200 years later, the people of Elba are still very attached to this memory.

A severe drought inflicted serious damage to agriculture and a record number of forest fires.

Fifth centenary of the birth of Cosimo I de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany.

While Covid-19 has left deep wounds in Italy - the hardest-hit country in the European Union in early 2020 - the epidemic has infected few people on the island of Elba. Faced with this "exemplary" record, the island, which lives mainly on tourism, has boasted of being "the ideal destination for the summer of 2020".

Celebrations, exhibitions and numerous events organized all over the island and during the whole summer, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The first exhibition of the "Uffizzi diffusi" project, dedicated to Napoleon, took place on the island of Elba. A selection of works from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence was exhibited at the Pinacoteca Foresiana in Portoferraio.

After the resignation of Mario Draghi, early legislative elections were marked by the victory of Giorgia Meloni and her far-right party, Fratelli d'Italia. Tuscany, a traditional left-wing bastion, voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party (PD) of former Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

The 2022 edition of IgersItalia was held on the island of Elba. More than 80 photographers, videographers, bloggers and content creators from all over Italy, both professional and amateur, gathered to promote the beauties of the island. IgersItalia, a very popular hashtag on Instagram, has now also become an important digital event in Italy in the context of territorial, tourist and cultural promotion