Modern Piombino, north of Grosseto, is a large port servicing Elba and Sardinia, but it’s got a fascinating history. It was an ancient Etruscan settlement, founded by villagers fleeing Greek pirates, and was fought over by the usual cast of characters during the middle ages. It was also an independent principality between 1399 and 1805, ruled primarily by the Appiani family, until the wildly unpopular Iacovo VI got fed up and ceded the territory to his dissolute son Alessandro, who was so terrible that the populace conspired against and finally murdered him.

During World War II it was the site of a famous battle when the commander of the Italian garrison and naval forces refused to fight against an invading German flotilla. The townspeople protested, then revolted and took over the town and garrison with soldiers who supported them, blockaded the port, sank most of the flotilla with artillery, killed, wounded, or captured most of the invading force, and repelled the invasion. A few days later they were betrayed by the same Italian commander, fled to the surrounding woods, and formed the first partisan units of the resistance, for which they were awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor by the Italian State.