What is Monte Argentario known for?

Nearly twenty forts and watchtowers ring the peninsula, built by the Spanish crown between 1557 and the early 1700s for the Stato dei Presidi. Michelangelo Merisi died of fever in Porto Ercole on July 18, 1610, en route to Rome to seek papal pardon, and was buried in the local cemetery. Four-neighborhood rowing race in the harbor of Porto Santo Stefano every August 15, between Pilarella, Valle, Croce and Fortezza.

Where is Monte Argentario?

Monte Argentario is a comune in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany region of Italy, about 154 kilometers from Roma.

Tuscany · Grosseto

Monte Argentario

A 635-meter peninsula tied to the mainland by three sand spits, ringed by Spanish forts and the place where Caravaggio died in 1610.

154 km / 96 mi

Nearest hub (Roma)

11,888

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi più belli d'Italia

Why come

Monte Argentario is a peninsula on the southern Tuscan coast, 35 kilometers south of Grosseto, connected to the mainland by three sand spits that enclose the lagoons of Orbetello. The mountain rises to 635 meters and the two seats of the comune sit at sea level on opposite sides: Porto Santo Stefano on the north, Porto Ercole on the south. The history of the peninsula diverges from the rest of Tuscany after 1557, when the Stato dei Presidi was carved out of Sienese territory and handed to the Spanish crown. Over the next century and a half the Spanish built nearly twenty forts and watchtowers along the coast, the largest among them Forte Stella, Forte Filippo and the Rocca above Porto Ercole. Caravaggio died of fever in Porto Ercole on July 18, 1610, on his way back to Rome to seek papal pardon. The Palio Marinaro pulls four neighborhoods of Porto Santo Stefano against each other in a rowing race every August 15.

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Gallery

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Known for

Forte Stella
Six-pointed star fort above Porto Ercole, designed for the Spanish by Buontalenti and Camerini and completed in the mid-1600s as part of the Presidi defense system.
Forte Filippo
Spanish bastioned fortress above Porto Ercole, named for Philip II and built in the late 16th century to protect the Stato dei Presidi from corsair raids.
Rocca Aldobrandesca, Porto Ercole
Earlier Aldobrandeschi fortress incorporated into the Spanish defense system, dominating the harbor and the old town of Porto Ercole.
Convento dei Frati Passionisti
1737 convent on the slopes of the mountain, founded by Paul of the Cross after a vision; still home to a dozen Passionists.
Strada Panoramica
Coastal road from Porto Santo Stefano around the peninsula, with views over the Tuscan Archipelago and the island of Giglio.
Porto Santo Stefano
Main port and seat of the comune, with the 16th-century Rocca Spagnola above the harbor and the Palio Marinaro held every August 15.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the season on the peninsula. Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole fill in July and August; the Palio Marinaro on August 15 doubles the population of Porto Santo Stefano for a single afternoon. June and September are the easiest months, with warm water and fewer day-trippers. April and October are mild and quiet, good for the panoramic road and the Passionist convent. November through March is the off-season: many hotels close, ferry connections to Giglio thin out, and the wind from the south brings rough seas. The Aragonese walls of Porto Ercole are nearly empty in February, which is the only time to walk them properly.