Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
With the exception of high season - actually only the month of August - when the is-
land's beaches are sardine-packed and the few roads clogged to a standstill with too much
traffic, Elba is something of a
Robinson Crusoe
paradise. In springtime, early summer and
autumn, when grapes and olives are harvested, there are plenty of tranquil nooks on this
stunningly picturesque, 28km-long, 19km-wide island.
History
Elba has been inhabited since the Iron Age and the extraction of iron ore and metallurgy
were the island's principal sources of economic wellbeing until well into the second half
of the 20th century. In 1917 some 840,000 tonnes of iron were produced, but in WWII the
Allies bombed the industry to bits. By the beginning of the 1980s, production was down
to 100,000 tonnes. You can fossick around to your heart's content in museums dedicated
to rocks.
Ligurian tribespeople were the island's first inhabitants, followed by Etruscans and
Greeks from Magna Graecia. Centuries of peace under the Pax Romana gave way to more
uncertain times during the barbarian invasions, when Elba became a refuge for those flee-
ing mainland marauders. By the 11th century, Pisa (and later Piombino) was in control
and built fortresses to help ward off attacks by Muslim raiders and pirates operating out of
North Africa.
