Monte Argentario

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Monte Argentario
coat of arms
Monte Argentario (Italy)
Monte Argentario
Country Italy
region Tuscany
province Grosseto  (GR)
Coordinates 42 ° 26 '  N , 11 ° 7'  E Coordinates: 42 ° 26 '7 "  N , 11 ° 7' 13"  E
height -635  m slm
surface 60.29 km²
Residents 12,372 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 205 inhabitants / km²
Post Code 58019
prefix 0564
ISTAT number 053016
Popular name Argentarini, also (by place) Santostefanesi and Portercolesi
Patron saint Sant'Erasmo (June 2nd)
Website Monte Argentario
Argentario dal satellite.jpg

Monte Argentario is an Italian municipality with 12,372 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) in the province of Grosseto on the southern edge of Tuscany . It includes the eponymous Monte Argentario peninsula on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea .

geography

Location of Monte Argentario in the province of Grosseto

The Monte Argentario is an almost circular rocky promontory, the highest point of which (the Monte Telegrafo ) is 635 m. In ancient times, it was an island surrounded by the open sea, on which three promontories of land were later formed by the mud, sand and rubble brought by the Albegna river , which today enclose the water in the so-called Orbetello lagoon .

The Monte Argentario can be accessed from the mainland either from Albinia via the northern spit ( Tombolo di Giannella ) or via the central headland of Orbetello, artificially reinforced as a dam. The southern spit Tombolo di Feniglia is closed to cars, parts of it have the status of a 'Riserva naturale' with corresponding access restrictions.

Pine trees and the characteristic maquis vegetation grow between the jagged rocks of the rocky mountains . Small sandy beaches are difficult to access and stretch deep below the cliffs. Large parts of the landscape outside the two coastal towns on the "island" are natural.

Community structure

Both port locations are characterized by extensive fortifications from Spanish times.

Other districts (frazioni) are Cala Moresca, Cala Piccola, Carrubo, Pozzarello, Santa Liberata, Sbarcatello and Terrarossa.

The only neighboring municipality is Orbetello on the middle dam, which serves as an access road.

history

Porto Santo Stefano .

Whether the promontory was already settled by the Etruscans cannot be verified with certainty. In any case, Etruscan polygonal blocks were used to build the Orbetello embankment. Strabo bears witness to a port of Portus Cosanus ; possibly a connection to Cosa , a 273 BC BC south of the lagoon at what is now Ansedonia , a port founded by the Romans with Etruscan pre-settlement. The later possession by the Roman family of Domitii Ahenobarbi , who received the area as compensation for loans to the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War , is clearly documented . This family was Argentarii (silver / money owner = lender); According to the prevailing opinion, the name of the mountain range comes from this job title.

Various Roman emperors owned the territory before Constantine donated it to the Church in the 4th century. In the Middle Ages, the area lost its importance, presumably due to the decaying infrastructure in the increasingly swamped Maremma of the surrounding area.

Basically, the island shared the history of Orbetello: after changing ownership by the feudal lords of the Aldobrandeschi , the Orsini and Ladislaus of Naples , it finally fell to Siena . When Cosimo I de 'Medici conquered Siena in 1555, which the Spanish Habsburgs had occupied for three years at that time, Monte Argentario was one of the few areas that Florence was not allowed to keep for the newly established Grand Duchy of Tuscany . In the treaty of July 3, 1557 with Philip II , the king demanded it back for himself together with Piombino , Talamone and parts of Elba .

The Stato dei Presidi (Spanish until 1708, Austrian until 1737, then Bourbon) existed until 1801, after which Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it . In the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it fell to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which became part of the nation-state of Italy in 1860.

In 1824 a road was built from Orbetello across the lagoon to Monte Argentario.

The expansion of Monte Argentario into a holiday center began after the Second World War. Hotels, apartments and restaurants are offered both in the two coastal towns of Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole as well as on hard-to-reach rock capes on the panoramic road around the mountain range. Agrotourism is also practiced inland . Although the region is well visited in summer, there is no mass tourism . On the one hand, environmentalists have prevented large-scale building speculation and, on the other hand, large parts of the rugged coastline are used as spaciously fenced and protected residences for wealthy privateers and international celebrities.

View of Orbetello from the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy
View from Strada Panoramica to Isola Rossa

Panoramic roads

If you drive to Monte Argentario from the north (Orbetello) over the lagoon dam, the panoramic road (Strada Panoramica) can be traveled a bit to the southwest via Porto Santo Stefano and to the southeast via Porto Ercole. Circumnavigating the entire mountain range with a normal car is not recommended, as both ends of the asphalt road are only connected by a narrow pothole slope.

The panoramic road runs through the holm oak, tree heather, gorse and rockrose macchia high above the bays and small beaches with bizarre rock formations, capes and small rock islands, watchtowers on the peaks in the inland and wide views of the neighboring islands Giglio and Giannutri , at clear weather also on Elba and Montechristo , with particularly good visibility even as far as Corsica . Access to the sea is only possible in a few places for the public due to the large number of largely privately owned, fenced-off properties.

An asphalt cross connection through the inland ensures a shortened return to Porto Santo Stefano before the southwest end of the road.

In addition, a road leads from the east to Monte Telegrafo. Here you pass the Convento dei Frati Passionisti on a hill, from which, in good weather, a distant view opens north over the lagoon of Orbetello to Talamone on the southern edge of the Parco Naturale della Maremma . Also from other vantage points on this road, e.g. For example, a huge cross that is illuminated at night offers sweeping views. There are RAI transmitters on the summit and a military installation on the highest point (therefore not accessible).

economy

In the 20th century, tourism replaced fishing as the main source of income. The fish stocks have been decimated and the fishermen have to reach out to more and more distant fishing grounds towards Sardinia.

The inland areas in the area of ​​Porto Santo Stefano are used to a small extent for sugar cane, vegetable and wine cultivation in terraced fields.

The main source of income, however, is tourism, with fewer tourists from Germany than Italians, especially from Rome and Florence, who have their summer villas here.

literature

  • Emanuele Repetti: ARGENTARO (MONTE e PROMONTORIO), Promontorium Cosae. Promontory Telamonium. Mons Argentarus. In Dizionario Geografico Fisico Storico della Toscana (1833–1846), online edition of the University of Siena (pdf, ital.)

Web links

Commons : Monte Argentario  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ http://www.comunemonteargentario.it/dovesiamo.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.comunemonteargentario.it/lastrutturacomunale.htm