PORTOFERRAIO, with its 12,000 inhabitants, is Elba’s chief town. The Romans founded here the ancient city of Fabricia, and the ruins of two important villas can still be admired. Cosimo of Medici chose this location for its natural, well protected harbour, and in 1538 AD built “Cosmopolis”, later renamed Portoferraio, typical example of a fortified town, whose forts and city walls, marina and picturesque centre are still perfectly preserved.

Portoferraio has always been the main port of the Island. In the first half of 1900 the town was characterized by its steal mills, where the iron ore extracted from Elba’s eastern mines was processed. The plants were destroyed during World War II, and the city converted from industry to tourism, becoming the outsiders’ gate to the Island’s natural wonders. Nowadays its sea promenade, with its many shops, bars and restaurants, overlooking Medici’s marina, surrounded by the renaissance fortifications, attracts thousands of tourists every year.

The coast of Portoferraio offers some of the best known beaches of the Island, as Biodola’s, and the other picturesque tropical-white gravel beaches of Sansone, Capo Bianco and Le Ghiaie. The latter is located just at the Northern edge of Portoferraio’s Medicean Fortress.

In the summer the center is animated by the most various shows, exhibitions and street market stands, while the old Medici port is an ideal haven for sailboats and yachts visiting the islands of the Archipelago. In Portoferraio is also located the largest shipyard of the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea.