Porto Santo Stefano
Encyclopedia
Porto Santo Stefano is located in the municipality of Monte Argentario
Monte Argentario
Monte Argentario is a comune and a peninsula belonging to the Province of Grosseto in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 150 km south of Florence and about 35 km south of Grosseto...

, in the Province of Grosseto
Province of Grosseto
The Province of Grosseto is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Grosseto.-Geography:It has an area of 4,504 km², and a total population of 227.498...

, in the Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

 region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is one of the 2 major towns that form the townships along with Porto Ercole.

Position

The resort is located on the north-western promontory of Argentario, a little more than 40 km south-east of Grosseto, about 10 km south-west of Orbetello and about 12 from Porto Ercole.

Suddivision

The town is divided into 4 historical districts, all with their own banner.

The Cross, whose nobles are called crociaioli, coat of arms depicts a gray seagull on a red background and at the bottom the red cross of St. Andrew on a white background

The Fortress, whose nobles are called fortezzaioli; coat of arms depicts a Spanish fortress in gold on a red background on the left, and a golden horse to the right on an amaranth background.

The Pilarella, whose nobles are called pilarellai; coat of arms depicts a golden vase in a red background on the left, and a light gray dolphin on the right on a blue background.

The Valley, whose nobles are called vallaioli; coat of arms depict an axe and the lighthouse.

History

Because of the increased exposure to pirate raids, the center had low priority during the rule of Aldobrandeschi and of the Republic of Siena
Republic of Siena
The Republic of Siena , was a state originating from the city of Siena in Tuscany, Central Italy.It existed for over four hundreds years, from the late 11th century until the year 1555, when was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown...

, but with its entry into the State of Presidi
State of Presidi
The Stato dei Presidi was a client state of the Kingdom of Spain situated in central Italy, which included the cities of Orbetello, Porto Ercole, Porto Santo Stefano, Talamone, Ansedonia and Porto Longone, in what is now southern Tuscany...

in the mid-16th century, the town became a center of great importance in Argentario. It was during this the construction of the Spanish Fort began, this powerful defensive structure now hosts a Permanent Exhibition "Submerged Memories". Like all other centers in the area, Porto Santo Stefano joined the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in the first half of the 19th century.

Besides the fortress, the territory still plays host to two Spanish lookout towers; Lividonia and dell'Argentiera (the latter situated on the slopes of Mount Argentario which dominates the whole Santo Stefano area.

Events

Among the most important events taking place in Porto Santo Stefano, the most important is the "Palio marinaro" an annual 4000 m rowing regatta- the boats are called gozzos (plural gozzi) which is held every August between the 4 districts. The prize, started in 1937 and was discontinued from 1940 to 1944, because of World War II, The list of victories are: 22 victories for the Pilarella district, 18 for the Cross district, 15 for the Valley and 12 for the fortress district.

Transportation and infrastructure

Porto S. Stefano was once connected by rail to Orbetello via a small rail line, now closed. The city has two ports: Porto Vecchio and Porto del Valle.
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