About Elba
Elba is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest in Italy, lying just 10 kilometers from the mainland. It is most famous historically as the place of Napoleon Bonaparte's first exile in 1814. He ruled the island as emperor for 300 days, leaving a significant lasting impact on its infrastructure and mining industry. His residences, the Villa dei Mulini and Villa San Martino, are now museums.
Geologically, Elba is rich in iron ore, having been mined since the time of the Etruscans. Today, nature has reclaimed the mines, and the island is a green jewel with rugged mountains (Mount Capanne is the highest peak) and over 150 beaches. The water clarity is exceptional, making it a paradise for snorkeling and diving.
The island is crisscrossed by hiking trails and charming towns like Portoferraio, with its Medici fortifications, and the picturesque hill towns of Capoliveri and Marciana. Elba offers a microcosm of Tuscany—good wine, excellent food, and rolling landscapes—surrounded by the sparkling Tyrrhenian Sea.
Administratively the island belongs to the Province of Livorno in the Tuscany region and is subdivided into seven autonomous municipalities (comuni) comprising Portoferraio, Porto Azzurro, Capoliveri, Rio, Marciana, Marciana Marina and Campo nell'Elba. Elba forms the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, established on 22 July 1996 as Italy's largest marine park covering 179,700 hectares of protected sea across seven islands including Pianosa, Capraia, Montecristo, Giglio, Giannutri and Gorgona. The island's iron-ore mining industry, which had operated continuously since Etruscan antiquity, formally ceased in April 1981 after the state-owned Italsider concern closed its last active shafts at Rio Marina and Calamita, ending roughly 2,700 years of continuous metal extraction.