Municipality of Rio nell’Elba
Name of inhabitants riesi
Patron Saint St. James – 25 July
Population 1,200 inhabitants
Area 16.62 km²
Density 70.98 inhabitants / km²
Town Hall Address:
Municipality of Rio nell’Elba
Via Garibaldi 38
57039 Rio nell’Elba LI
Switchboard 0565 943411
Fax 0565 943021
Email PEC protocol.rionellelba@pec.it
Institutional website www.comune.rionellelba.li.it
The municipality of Rio nell’Elba, famous for its iron mines dating back to the Etruscan age, was the island’s mining center until the deposits were closed. The village of Rio Elba is perched on a hill about 170 meters above sea level, on the north-eastern side of the Elbe.
Among the most antic hi towns of the island, with origins in the Bronze Age, it preserves numerous traces of its past and among these there are also marine archaeological finds.
A large variety of minerals is exhibited in the local Rio People’s Museum. Other places of historical and cultural interest are the Castle of Volterraio, the Parish Church of SSGiacomo and Quirico , the oratory of Santa Caterina and the Church of the Holy Trinity. The islet of Cerboli is part of the municipal territory.
Rio Elba
Parish Church of Saints Giacomo and Quirico
Built in the 11th century it has been destroyed several times by pirates and rebuilt.
Today the external structure is Renaissance while the internal one is decidedly Baroque.
Church of Santa Caterina
This small sanctuary of the sixteenth century to which is attached a hermitage, is located on the road to Nisporto near the ancient Grassera, a medieval village destroyed by Turkish pirates in 1500.
On Easter Monday, the day in which the apparition of the saint is celebrated, there is the custom of eating dried figs as a sign of devotion.
Volterraio Castle
This Pisan fortress dating back to the 11th century was built on the ruins of an Etruscan acropolis. Perched on a 380 meters high cliff it dominates the bay of Portoferraio . It can be reached along the road that connects Rio nell’Elba to Magazzini.
The localities
Bagnaia, Nisporto, Nisportino
Beaches
Nisportino beach, Nisporto beach, Bagnaia beach, Le Secche and Mangani beach
Video Municipality of Rio Elba