Come here and discover all the treasures of the island of Elba!
A gorgeous island featuring heavenly beaches, a crystalline blue sea, and a rich and interesting history.
On Elba, you can witness the legacy of its remarkable past: Etruscans lived here in the 8th century BC, before the Roman conquest. During the Middle Ages, the island first belonged to the Maritime Republic of Pisa and later to the Medici family (1548). Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, founded Cosmopoli, currently known as Portoferraio.
Then, the island came into the direct power of Spain for about one and a half century. In the eighteenth century, several European powers, such as Austrians, Germans, British and French, competed with each other to gain control of the island.
In the end, the French prevailed and their victory eventually led to the event that thrusted the island into the global limelight: in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to Elba, where he lived for 10 months.
Elba and Napoleon are inextricably intertwined. The French Emperor quickly made the island well-known worldwide. After a dreadful Russian campaign and a fatal defeat in Leipzig, Napoleon was exiled to the island, where he stayed for about 10 months. As the ruler of the short-lived Principality of Elba, he started to create a small navy and army, laying the foundations for his return to the French mainland. He escaped from the island in February 1815 and, for the following “Hundred Days”, he tried to move heaven and earth one more time, in a final, all-out effort to resurrect his dying empire. However, he was eventually defeated at Waterloo and exiled again to St. Helena, where he died on May 5, 1821.
Villa dei Mulini
On Elba, you can visit the Napoleonic Villas: Villa dei Mulini, located in Portoferraio’s historic center, and Villa San Martino, about 5 kilometers from the town.
Villa dei Mulini was Napoleon’s main residence on the island and the architect Paolo Bargigli renovated it in order to meet the needs of the French emperor.
He built the party hall, the stables and the garden (where you can admire the statue of Minerva and Galatea). The main rooms are on the ground floor: the hall, the library, the bedroom, the study and the valets’ room. Unfortunately, the original furniture is no longer here; the library, however, features several authentic books that once belonged to Bonaparte.
Villa San Martino
Villa San Martino was Napoleon’s “summer” residence or, rather, his secondary residence. The library, the neoclassical bathroom (for his sister, Paolina), the Love Knot Room and the Egyptian Room, decorated with pyramids and hieroglyphs, are the pre-eminent rooms. Nowadays, you can also enjoy the Demidoff gallery, displaying a collection of Napoleonic relics, engravings, lithographs and etchings, collected by the Russian prince and art collector Anatoli Demidoff, who bought the villa in 1851.
Where to sleep on the Island of Elba
If you wish to explore the villas, I recommend you stay at the Airone hotel, in Portoferraio; from here, you can reach the two Napoleonic Villas with ease!
The Airone hotel provides a plethora of services: restaurant, bar, swimming pool, private beach, entertainment and games for children, tennis courts, soccer fields, beach volleyball courts. Furthermore, at the Hotel Airone you will be able to enjoy the Terme of San Giovanni: a wide range of thermal treatments and personalized beauty treatments.
The Airone hotel is the ideal starting place to discover all the treasures wisely hidden on Elba! The Napoleonic Villas and many other wonders are waiting for you!
