Municipality Portoferraio

Capital and main port center, is located on the northeastern coast on a promontory that closes the bay to north.
Portoferraio is one of the oldest towns of the island, its origins date back to the Ligurians, the Etruscans and the Greeks, before becoming a Roman colony called Fabricia.
Portoferraio, as we can still admire today, was built for Cosimo I de ‘Medici who after changing the name Cosmopolis, in 1548 also began the great defensive works.

In 1814 it housed the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte. Other places of historical and cultural interest are the Romanesque Church of Santo Stefano alle Trane, the Fortezza d’Altura Etrusca del Castiglione, MUSEUM NAPOLEONICO SAN MARTINO visitors for the first of the Province of Livorno in Tuscany and the second after the Uffizi, the ‘International Art Center of Italo Bolano, the Pinacoteca Foresiana and the Botanical Garden at Ottone.
In the town of Portoferraio there are the San Giovanni Terme. They are part of the municipality of Portoferraio the town of St. John, Schiopparello, Warehouses, Ottone, Carpani, Bagnaia, San Martino, La Biodola, Viticcio and the Island of Montecristo.

The Fortification
The Medicean fortification was designed by the architect Giovanni Battista Bellucci.
In one year, 1548 to 1549, he built a consists of three strong (Falcone, Stella, Linguella) linked together by solid and powerful walls.
In the old harbor area through the Porta a Terra, you may visit the Forte del Falcone, Forte Stella and Forte Linguella following, when possible, the walkways that connect them.

Villa Roman
The ruins of a Roman villa of the imperial era are located a few kilometers from Portoferraio, towards Bagnaia, in the hamlet called Le Grotte. These were covered by plants and shrubs until 1960 when the digging brought to light the great complex with walls in opus reticulatum, big terraces overlooking the sea and a swimming pool equipped with a heating system and water purification.

the beaches
To the east: Bagnaia (sand and shingle), Magazzini (shingle), Ottone (sand and gravel), Schiopparello (gravel).
West: Acquaviva (gravel), the Biodola (sand), Capo Bianco (gravel), Enfola (sand-gravel), Oven (sand), Ghiaie (ovoid pebbles), Padulella (gravel) Scaglieri (sand), Seccione ( gravel), Views (sand and shingle), Viticcio (sand and gravel).