Elba: The Past - Piracy and Protection

February-March 1998

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

By Jan Sommer

CHRONOLOGY

Etruscan era: 1000 BC-500 BC

Roman era: 500 BC-400 AD

Medieval city-states: (Pisan domination) c. 12th century

Cosimo do Medeci: (Florentine domination) c. 15th century

Napoleon 1814-15

Elba's history and geography were in part defined by piracy. Ancient and medieval towns like Poggio and Marciana were sited uphill from the sea with a good view of the Mediterranean five miles away. Surrounding walls and narrow twisty streets were designed to enable townsfolk to defend themselves against invaders in hand-to-hand combat. Only in the relatively peaceful era of Cosimo de Medici (c. 1400 AD) were harbour towns considered safe enough for inhabitation except by garrisons.

On many hillside promontories are circular stone lookout towers. In Etruscan times, lookouts would build signal fires in the towers whenever Greek pirates were spotted. Townsfolk scrambled to the lookout towers or the fortress on the high peak above present day Portoferraio, and checked themselves in for the duration of a siege. The fortress at Volterraio, the only one on Elba never conquered, was overbuilt by Romans, and then again by the Italian princes. No one knows who constructed the internal aqueduct, but those lucky denizens could enjoy spring water from a source four miles away while comfortably keeping an eye on the harbor many miles below. It's clear why it went unvanquished after you spend a hot dusty morning trekking up the steep scree to explore the ancient stone castle perched on the mountain top.

The Etruscans (1000 BC-500 BC) were conquered by Romans, who mined the island for the plentiful minerals. Granite quarries supplied the emperors with stone for their ever greater tributes to themselves. It was fun to visit the Coliseum in Rome, having just paddled near the granite's source in Elba. The Romans were harassed by slave-seeking pirates from the African shores (Carthaginians and Saracens). Romans built the first fortifications at Portoferraio, buildings still standing in sea water at the harbor mouth, a monument to their exquisite engineering.

By the medieval era (1000 AD to 1450 AD), city-states from Northern Italy lay claim to Elba's rich mineral stores and added to the fortifications surrounding the harbors. Marciana Marina harbor has a circular tower guarding its entrance, built about 1100 AD. The stone work survives intact today despite winter storm waves washing over the foundation. Cosimo, a Medici prince, ushered in the only period of security by bringing his navy to quell the pirates and ensure safe commerce by sea. Cosimo built the wall around the town of Portoferraio and had his name engraved in the twin entrance gates. Two large fortresses, one star-shaped, housed his soldiers and anchored the town wall.

Napoleon's time on Elba was brief. Instead of sitting out his ten-month exile in one of his two palatial residences, he got to work as the governor and built roads connecting the many fishing villages with the main towns. He rode everywhere on horseback, supervising a massive upgrade of the infrastructure. Word has it that his sister Paulina was just as active, in her own right, creating a Napoleonic reputation for hijinks and nude sunbathing. Ultimately Elba was too small and peaceful for Napoleon, who took off to pursue his glorious destiny.

Elba: The Present - Paddling Pleasure

by Barbara Kossy

Elba is the third largest Italian island (after Sicily and Sardinia), and the largest in the Tuscan Archipelago. It has a population of 30,000 and is 10 kilometers west of the mainland port of Piombino in the Tirrenean Sea. Its area is 224 square kilometers; including 147 kilometers of coastline, of which 14 are beaches. The granite peak of Monte Capanne, at 1019 meters, is its highest point.

Elba enjoys a typically Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot summers. Most of the rain falls in autumn and diminishes throughout the winter and spring, with little or no rain in the summer.

GETTING THERE:

You can fly to the town of Marina di Campo on Elba from Bergamo, Pisa, Florence, Munich, Milan, and Vienna. Most people drive or take the train to the ferries in Piombino which arrive at Elba's largest town, Portoferraio, at least one an hour on a work day. To drive to Piombino from the north take the superstrada Livorno-Civitavecchia, and exit at San Vincenzo. From the south take the Venturina exit. To get to Elba by train, on the Turin-Rome line change for Piombino at Campiglia Marittima. It's an easy walk from train, to ferry, to the central bus station in Portoferraio. Kayaks

The Elba Sea Kayak Center, located in Marciana Marina, has a fleet of fiberglass kayaks and offers classes, tours, and rentals. During the tourist season many of the beach businesses that rent chairs and umbrellas also rent plastic kayaks by the hour.

For information in the USA call 510/ 234-3479 or fax 510/234-6615. email bkossy@igc.apc.org. Or in Italy tel. il genio del bosco 0565-930837 fax 0565-915349, genio@elbalink.it, or write il genio del bosco, Via Roma 12, 57037 Portoferraio (LI) Italy.


Winds of the Mediteranean

by Barbara Kossy

The Mediterranean is an immense body of water and strong winds on open waters can create hazardous conditions for small boats. The Mediterranean cultures are respectful of the dangers of wind and sea, and over the years developed names for the major winds in their regions.

The flow of air into the Mediterranean Sea takes place most strongly through gaps in the terrain. Two such winds are the Mistral, a cold, dry northwesterly wind, which passes through the AlpsPyrennes gap and sweeps across the islands of the western Mediterranean, and the strong northeasterly Bora which passes through the Trieste gap and travels down the Adriatic Sea into the eastern Mediterranean.

The northwesterly Mistral (known as Maestral or Tramontana depending on locality) are strong cold winds that may last several days, characterized by good visibility and little cloud.

The Venavales or Libeccio are strong southwesterly winds blowing through the Strait of Gibraltar, of shorter duration and associated with squalls and thunderstorms.

The Scirocco are the hot, dry southerlies blowing up from North Africa. Dust from the Sahara Desert is not uncommonly deposited on the islands of Malta and Sicily.

Levante or Levanter is the name given to winds of long fetch from the northeast which can reach strong to gale force. The term Levanter is used for easterly winds in the strait of Gibraltar.

The Gregale ('Greek' wind) is the name given to strong northeasterly winds in the central Mediterranean and especially in the Ionian sea, bringing cold air, sometimes at gale force, from the Balkans to the islands of Malta and Sicily.

There are many other names used which are specific to conditions prevailing locally throughout the Mediterranean. Near Crete in the eastern Mediterranean, the winds are named for their direction of origins:

  • the Levante blows from the east and is so named because the sun rises (leva) in the east.

  • the Ponente blows from the west and is so called because the sun sets (gone) there.

  • the Maestrale blows from the northwest and is so called because that is the direction of Greece, the land of philosophy, mathematics, history, and its teachers (maestros)

(with thanks to Barbara Kossy)
For more on Elba, see Memories of the Mediteranean: Elba