Porto Santo Stefano
Porto Santo Stefano is located in the Maremma Grossetana and has a great seafaring tradition.
It is an active commercial, fishing and seaside resort. The town, known for its tourist vocation, is a center of international importance for sailing and pleasure boating. Together with Porto Ercole, it is one of the two major settlements that make up the municipality.
Among the places to visit we can mention: the Bagni di Domiziano, remains of a Roman villa (1st century BC) near Santa Liberata. It was equipped with a fishpond for fish farming. In 1572 the tower of Santa Liberata was built above the Roman ruins. Given the strong presence of ancient civilizations, Monte Argentario has been the site of numerous finds of historical material: bricks, ceramics, city walls and Roman roads.
The Spanish Fortress built between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century with the entrance of Porto Santo Stefano with the aim of defending the coast and the town and repelling enemy attacks and incursions from the sea.
The Grotto of Punta degli Stretti (of the Granduca), is located along the provincial road 161 which leads from Orbetello to Porto Santo Stefano, discovered in 1842 and characterized by the presence of internal lakes with numerous halls and galleries, frequent destinations for excursions. In it the remains of bones and tools from the Neolithic age were found.
Important that the Convent of the Presentation in the Temple inside which there are some important works: the Madonna with Child delivering the project of the convent to Saint Paul of the Cross, by Pietro Aldi (1880), the “Presentation of Mary in the temple” by Sebastiano Conca and the “Madonna and Child holding the Sacred Heart and Saint Joseph in the background“, by Pompeo Batoni.
The Torre di Capo d’Uomo is a coastal tower located in the municipality of Monte Argentario on the top of the hill of the same name, which rises in the western part of the Argentario promontory. It was built in the Middle Ages and in the second half of the sixteenth century it became a fundamental reference for the defensive system. Today it is presented in the form of clearly visible ruins.
The Torre dell’Argentiera is a coastal tower located in the municipality of Monte Argentario, it was built in the Middle Ages when the entire territory was controlled by the Aldobrandeschi. At that time the turriform building was located in the center of an area enclosed by the curtain walls of an external fortress.
