Giglio Italy

Isola del Giglio, is an island and Italian comune situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Tuscany, part of the Province of Grosseto. The island is one of seven that form the Tuscan Archipelago. Though the name Giglio ('lily") would appear consonant with the insignia of Medici Florence, it derives from Aegilium or "Goat Island", the Latin transliteration of the Greek word for "goat" (Aegilion).


The island is separated by a 16 km stretch of sea from the promontory of Monte Argentario. Mainly mountainous, it consists almost entirely of granites culminating in the Poggio della Pagana (496 m). 90% of its surface is covered by Mediterranean vegetation alternated with large pine forests and numerous vineyards which allow the production of the local "Ansonaco" wine. The coast is 27 km long, made up of rocks, smooth cliffs and several bays: Arenella, Cannelle, Caldane and Campese, the biggest one with its small, same-named village.


The modern island was probably formed 4.5 to 5 million years ago, and has been inhabited since the Iron Age. Later it was probably an Etruscan military stronghold. Under the Roman domination Aegilium Insula or Igillia Insula was an important base in the Tyrrhenian Sea, cited briefly by Julius Caesar in his De Bello Gallico, by Pliny by Pomponius Mela and by the poet Rutilius Claudius Namatianus, who celebrated Igilium's successful repulse of the Getae and safe harbor for Romans, in a time when Igilium's slopes were still wooded:
Eminus Igilii silvosa cacumina miror
Quam fraudare nefas laudis honore suae.
In 805 it was donated by Charlemagne to the abbey of the Tre Fontane in Rome, and was later successively a possession of the Aldobrandeschi, Pannocchieschi, Caetani, and Orsini families, and of the municipality of Perugia. In 1241 the Sicilian fleet of Emperor Frederick II destroyed a Genoese fleet. From 1264 Isola del Giglio was a Pisae dominion, from which it passed to the Medici family. It suffered several Saracen attacks, which ended only in 1799.
Alongside its history the island was always renowned for its mineral ore: many columns and buildings in Rome were built with the Gigliese granite.




The island houses the remains of a Roman villa of Domitius Ahenobarbus (1st-2nd century), in the area of Giglio Porto (Giglio port). No traces of the once existing Diana Temple can be seen now. The church of San Pietro Apostolo in Giglio Castello (Giglio castle) has an ivory crucifix attributed to the sculptor Giambologna.
The island is also the site of an Etruscan shipwreck dating back to the early Iron age, c. 600 BC. The cargo of the ship included copper and lead ingots, iron spits, amphorae and a Corinthian helmet. Even a wooden writing tablet with stylus was preserved. The finds are almost completely lost now.

Isola del Giglio is connected to Tuscany by ferries Toremar and Maregiglio ("sea lily"), departing from Porto Santo Stefano.
On 13 January 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran hard aground on the coast of Giglio.