Isola del Giglio in Tuscany

The municipality of Giglio Isle is in the province of Grosseto, with an altitude ranging between 0 and 496 metres above sea level, and has a population of about 1600 inhabitants. Its name does not come from the flower or from the Florentine rule, rather from the latinization of the Greek word "aegilium", which means "goat". In fact, the island is populated with mouflons and was called "goats' island".

The Giglio Island, located 11 km from the Argentario promontory, combines the artistic beauties as Giglio Castello and the Tower of the Saracen, with the landscapes rich of unique flora and fauna unique in their kind. Along the 28 km of coast you can look up and admire the flight of the peregrine, the herring gull and the Corsican gull, famous representatives of the big variety of birds that populate the island. It is also possible to visit the Ebony Crucifix of Giambologna preserved in the Church of St. Peter's.
The island was born almost five million years ago, it was already inhabited during the Stone Age and in the past it was an important outpost for the warships of the Etruscans. When it went under the Roman rule and was administered by the Domizi Enobardi, Giglio became an important sea centre for the ship connections with the overseas provinces of the empire. From Julius Ceasar to Plinio, many important people of the ancient Rome have mentioned the island for its beauty and importance.
With the ruin of the Roman Empire the history of Giglio was enriched by a particularly venerated character, the monk Mamiliano, a hermit whose remains have been preserved on the island for some time. It was the time of the first raids of plunderers and of pirates and the local people always appealed to Mamiliano, who helped them thus giving them the courage to defend themselves form the many incursions. The story of this character aroused the interest of many hermit friars who chose Giglio to settle and live in solitude.
The Middle Age of Giglio was characterised by many political events. In 805 Charlemagne gave the island the Abbey of the Three Fountains, however its property passed to many noble families and even to the municipality of Perugia during the years. In 1241 in the waters around the island the fleet of the emperor Frederick II defeated the fleet of Genova that was carrying some prelates to Rome to take part in the Council called by Gregorio IX to talk about the emperor.
The rules on the island were not ended, yet. From 1264 it was taken by the Pisani, but in the following years the ownership changed many times. Ruling over the island of Giglio meant dealing with the Saracen pirates' incursions and this problem was solved with a glorious battle on 18^th November 1799, when the Gigliesi had their final and overwhelming victory against the Turkish. Once the island was politically stable and no more at the mercy of the sea robbers, it started a fruitful activity of mining and many quarries were opened.