Giglio

There are three towns on the island: Giglio Porto on the eastern side, Giglio Castello at 405 m above sea level and Campese on the western side. The three settlements, which together have 1550 inhabitants, all have very ancient historical origins. Giglio Porto stands on the remains of the ancient Roman Villa del Saraceno, a large residential complex belonging to the senatorial family of the Enobarbi, inhabited from the late Republic and later incorporated into the island’s fishermen’s dwellings. The castle of Giglio Castello on the other hand is a military construction which first belonged to the Aldobrandeschi family (the fortress at the top dates back to the 10th-11th centuries AD) and then to the Pisans, while the picturesque village dates from the 12th century AD; there is however evidence of more ancient settlements, starting with the Villanovans and then the Etruscans. Campese, on the other hand, is a mining village, linked to the extraction of pyrite, whose origins lie in prehistoric times, as demonstrated by the Neolithic findings discovered in the area.

History and culture are therefore widespread throughout the area, and with a little imagination it is easy to imagine the lives of people who, since ancient times, have chosen to live in contact with nature on Giglio, making use of the resources of this earthly paradise.