PORTO ERCOLE

Porto Ercole

From the mouth of the dam of Orbetello follow the road that runs along the Levante Lagoon and cuts the base of the Feniglia tombolo at the base of the beach and the marina of Cala Galera where he died, possibly of malaria Caravaggio, on July 18, 1610.

Porto Ercole is formed by an interesting historical nucleus on a small promontory, under the impressive crown of strong and sixteenth century bastions around the bay of the harbor. Portus Herculis of the Romans, was the fief of the Abbey of the Three Fountains of Rome; he then passed to the Aldobrandeschi, the Orsini and then the Senesi (15th century), who in 1556 supported, along with the French, a defense guard against the Spanish forces. The following year it became part of the State of the Presidium, becoming a strategic asset of paramount importance and for this purpose it had a great defensive apparatus, exceptional for amplitude and complexity, the result of the expansion and upgrading of previous fortifications. Within the Spanish walls is the characteristic medieval village, which gives access to an ogival door. Immediately to the right, the stairway along the walls rises to the Church of Sant'Erasmo, the patron sailor of the sailors.