Lovely little Giglio island is off the west coast of Argentario, reachable by easy ferry from Porto Santo Stefano, with a small population in three port towns and Giglio Castello, perched on a hill at the center of the island, and considered one of Italy’s prettiest medieval fortress towns.

Giglio has been inhabited and fought over since the iron age. It was an Etruscan stronghold, an important Roman maritime base trading between various provinces, and attacked by Saracen pirates for centuries, most notably in 1544, when the pirate Barbarossa sacked the island and carted off most of the population into slavery.