There is an island off the Italian coast whose immense riches were known to the Mediterranean civilisations before Rome was discovered, where vineyards and chestnut plantations date back to the 14th century. The Isle of Elba has tales which began when the story of mankind was still part legend, where historical events are evidenced by villages that even now cling to cliff tops, where castles and watch-towers stand in defence of the islands inhabitants from pirates of the past.
On Elba you’ll find traditional sun-leathered fishermen snatching a living from the waves, where ancient village squares lead off into echoing alleyways where washing is hung like banners between balconies, where shopkeepers gossip in doorways and children play; and everywhere there is the scent of lemon, honeysuckle and pine. Life has a stately lack of haste here, a different dimension even; a refuge from the 21st century discovered by numerous celebrity island dwellers like Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, Sir Richard Branson, football legend Marco Van Basten and international best-selling author, Giorgio Faletti.
Despite the fact that Elba measures only 224 square kilometres, it promises tales of a wondrous past and serene landscapes which climb into the jagged mountains on spectacular switch-back roads. One minute you’re on the very edge of a deep gorge where inaccessible hamlets are tucked away, the next you’re at the hem of the mountain, winding through romantic picture-postcard villages where the ocean paws away at the biscuit-coloured beach, continually redrawing the contours of the coast.
The lushly scenic panoramas of pastoral splendour and painfully bright blue waters surrounding Elba’s 147 km coastline shelters more than 50 beaches, each quite unique, with either long expanses of golden sand or white washed pebbles.
The archaeological treasures and ancient customs; the small fortress towns that seem to have existed for an eternity, combined with astonishing natural beauty, make this magical island truly magnificent.
CHARIOTS OF FIRE
Numerous civilisations have fought fierce battles over Elba, all of which left a footprint. The history of Elba begins at Portoferraio in the era of the Etruscans whom exploited the island’s wealth of iron only to be expelled by the Romans. Later, Elba was taken by the Medici who built huge forts overlooking the bays in a bid to defend their land from the bloody assaults of the terrible Saracen pirates. The next important event to mark the history of Elba was the incarceration of the great French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. Like those before him, Bonaparte left behind important traces of his rule: he built roads; reorganized the mining economy; and increased the production and export of wine.
THE ELDORADO OF GEOLOGY
The results of an exacting environmental preservation program are immediately evident when you survey the black cliffs plunging into the unpolluted sapphire waters, the miles of sugar-white beaches and medieval mountain villages, which compete for attention against a landscape of plump woods, splashed with every sharp shade that nature can bestow.
Discovering new bays and inlets will leave you in a froth of indecision as to which offers the most dramatic seascape, as they will each evoke a different emotion when witnessing the different hues of azure and emerald which glisten from beneath the ocean.
On the southern shores the ocean, the colour of antique glass gradually changing in shades to turquoise, crashes against white cliffs and on the northern shore it seeps into creeks amongst tall rock faces, gently lapping onto quiet pebbled beaches. Either will reduce you to verbal beggary.
You cannot fail to be deeply moved by the beauty of the island as one moment you’re surveying wild goats at the Monte Capanne massif, the next you’re inside a ghostly mine shaft on the east side, where the silent surrounds is filled with the presence of the ancients who still watch over the island’s most precious treasures lying beneath the surface.
Elba is a huge open-air mineralogical museum, which for more than 4,000 years attracted generations of miners who have searched for copper and iron. The abandoned mines, on the eastern part of the island, still shimmer with riches. One such authentic mine where the Elban miners toiled for over a hundred years can be found near Rio Marina’s mining district at Bacino, where the Calamita mining museum (opening in June) offers mine excursions showing the laborious process involved in extracting the earth’s buried treasures. This site is considered one of the greatest open-air exhibitions in Italy.
MY CUP OVERFLOWETH
The local gastronomy tells of traditions brought to the mining communities by sailors. The time-honoured flavours of an Elban kitchen, which are based primarily on simple dishes like boiled octopus, small fried zerri fish and stuffed sardines, are created from good basic ingredients married with a superb local wine.
It would be difficult to find another stretch of land in Europe which can boast with such a remarkable culture and still continues to honour traditions of the past. Like that of the wine producers, the guardians of traditional winemaking, whose expert hands have worked the sun’s energy and the fertile soil for centuries preserving the ancient wines that were in favour in Roman times.
Today, the tradition continues. Elban grapes produce an array of fine wines, with the Italian DOC quality guarantee. Among the most renowned are Elba Bianco, Elba Rosso and Rosato. Their famed dessert wines, Moscato and Aleatico, are usually served with Cantucci, a ground almond biscuit with orange peel and honey, which is savoured after dunking it into the wine.
FUN IN THE SUN
Between the ancient wooded forests, luxuriant hills of sweet smelling flowers and tropical beaches, there are many more ways to enjoy the magic of Elba. Cultural enrichment is around every corner, thanks to historical events, concerts and village fairs, during which the old traditions are renewed to honour the former guardians of the island.
Nature lovers can have it all on Elba – from scuba diving off wrecks to hang-gliding, from guided hikes through dense terrain to mountain biking. If you prefer, you can spend your day on the golf course, or tennis court or at an amusement park. Alternatively, you can discover the island’s traditions at one of the village fêtes where you can also try out traditional dishes and local produce at the food stalls.
During the summer evenings, when Elba changes into a glittering ball gown, music, lights and colour begin a long journey towards dawn with blues, jazz and rock starting the night life off in cafes and bars in Portoferraio, then progressing onto nightclubs near Procchio.
EXILE IN EDEN
Life on Elba is complex and contrasting: some areas dried out by sun and wind, others green and luscious with life, talcum beach sand and black pebbles, the natural landscape, the history, the traditions and spontaneous gestures of hospitality by the locals.
You will be hard pressed to find a street you wouldn’t want to live on, a pub you wouldn’t like to get to know, or a view you wouldn’t wish to call your own.
This is a worthy vacation destination, possibly even a consideration for exile.
At the end of his book, The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre wrote of the virtues of wine and olive estates on the island of Elba and describes it as a place one may go to ‘in search of answers to life’s great riddles’.
“Here man discovers the scent of colours, a new rhythm of life, where time and space belongs to your passions,” as local relic Carlo Eugeni put it. “Look,” he said, waving a hand towards a shifting mirror of water, “the fruit and flowers, she paints the landscape. This is why Elba she attracts people like you and me, the Rockefellers, the Duchess of Kent, David Niven, Winston Churchill and Pierre Balmain. The famous supermodel Consuela Chrispy, Errol Flynn, Princess Margaret – they all used to visit here regularly. And not forgetting our own Italian families of influence like the Agnelli’s of Fiat and the Berlusconi family.” He paused for reflection, listening to the seductive hush and suck of the shimmering expanse of water. “I visited Elba as a young man and I’ve never left.”
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GETTING THERE: The Isle of Elba is known to but a few – locals mostly, who’d like to keep this piece of Italian ancestry for themselves; but it’s a secret they couldn’t keep for long as Ryanair flies to Pisa, the nearest airport on the Italian mainland, ** times a week. From Pisa to the port of Piombino is an hour’s drive but quicker by train, which is conveniently located beside the airport. Elba is a 50 minute ferry crossing via Moby and Toremar Lines www.aptelba.com.
WHERE TO SLEEP: Accommodations are numerous and varied. In Schiopparello, a small village 7 km from Portoferraio, where Napoleon liked to hunt, is Monte Fabbrello, a splendid vineyard and olive grove who’s homestead is characterised by Tuscan arches offers holiday accommodations www.montefabbrello.it. So to does the wine cellars of Le Sughere in Rio Marina who offer modern yet sympathetically restored accommodations on their estate www.lesughere.it. To escape the tourist beat head to the sun-kissed beaches of Sant’ Andrea, in the north-west Mount Capanne region, where the quiet opulence and sumptuous cuisine of the boutique Hotel Ilio speak of luxury and indulgence www.hotelilio.com. (wifi throughout).
WHERE TO EAT: You’ll struggle to find a yuppie bar or designer restaurant in Elba. Here authenticity prevails in such places as:
Ristorante Osteria Dei 4 Rioni, in Capoliveri, have the best apple deserts on the island - marinated in a little brandy, spiced up with cinnamon and cloves and drizzled with vanilla yogurt. (Tel 0565-935022)
Capo Nord, a restaurant on a pebbled beach in Marciana Marina, presented the best sea food of the island. (Tel 0565-996983)
In the small town of Poggio, renowned for the healing properties of its bottled Napoleonic waters, is Ristorante Publius, which offers a superb selection of local wines and views you not so much look at as bathe in. (Tel 0565 99208)
To experience authentic Italian hospitality and the best pasta on the island head to Marciana Marina’s Ristorante Affrichella. (Tel 0565-996844)
Ristorante Emanuel in Portoferraio professes there to be a local secret in cooking the world’s best mussels, which is evidenced in more ways than one could begin to describe. (Tel 0565-939003)
WHERE TO PARTY: Portoferraio, Baretto, Rifrullo and Inferno. Baobab at Marina di Campo and Rodriguez at Capoliveri and La Perla at Marcina Marina. Capoliveri has the Sugar Reef. Between Procchio and Marina di Campo is Club 64 and Giannino night clubs in the village of La Pila. For a more exotic experience Morumbi offers Brazilian dancers and hot Latin-American music, guaranteed great night out.
WINE TASTING: The Elba Wine Route has an itinerary for tourists interested in food and wine. During high season it’s recommended to reserve a tasting through the tourism office www.aptelba.com.
Highly recommended are the fine wine cellars of the Acquabona estate – the largest and oldest wine estate on Elba (Tel 0565-933013). A few hundred metres away is Monte Frabello who specialises in desert wines and olive oil (Tel 0565-933324) and in Rio Marina is the superb collection at Le Sughere (Tel 0347-0849947). Reservations are essential during high season.
THINGS TO EXPERIENCE: Discover typical hand-made local products, colourful boutiques, interesting souvenir stalls, small antique shops, market stands that sell minerals and cobblers, like Unzipò in Marciana, located in a 16th century bakery (complete with bread oven), who design and hand-make leather shoes (Tel 0348-860376), and Atmosfer in Capoliveri, who carry exquisite handmade jewellery (Tel 0565-935314) or the locally produced, Aqua Dell’Elba, a timeless perfume range which captures the essence of sea and wild flowers and sold at numerous locations around the island (Tel 0565-99513). Visit the UNESCO geological site of world-wide importance at Calamita and take a guided tour below the surface and experience the cathedral of light (Tel 565-935492).
Among the various locally made products, the island’s honey, is produced in a variety of flavours including rosemary and eucalyptus and the most famous sweet treat in Elba is Schiaccia Briaca (drunken tort), prepared with pine nuts, sultanas and a locally produced sweet wine. Other popular local specialties include Sciacciunta, which is a simple crusty tart, the Corollo, a cake made primarily with eggs and sugar and finally the Sportella, a traditional Easter cake made with aniseed.
ALL THINGS NAPOLEON: Bonaparte was exiled to Elba in 1814 and was permitted a personal escort of some one thousand men, household staff and was bequeathed as Emperor of Elba. Within months though, his thoughts turned towards Paris and he began to plan his return, which he did less than a year later, facing final defeat at Waterloo.
The official residence of Napoleon was Villa Dei Mulini, built a century before his arrival, and overlooks Portoferraio. Of great interest are the period furniture, the weapons, the paintings, the Emperor’s library and the garden with a breath taking view over the gulf.
Five kilometres away, at San Martino, is Napoleon’s country residence, Villa San Martino, which owes its present grandness to Prince Demidoff, a distant relation of the Emperor, who turned it into a neoclassic building that was later transformed into the Demidoff Gallery and Napoleonic museum.
