The Polveriera Guzman in Orbetello was a massive powder magazine built in 1692 for the Spanish viceroy of the State of the Presidi to store explosives. Now an archeological museum and art gallery, it was also used by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860 to supply his troops during his march from Genova to Sicily to overthrow the Bourbon government in what was one of the defining acts of the Risorgimento, which unified Italy.

The Spanish period of the Presidi lasted from 1557 till 1707, from the partitioning of the Republic of Siena and the occupation of large parts of Tuscany and the Maremma region by the Spanish and their viceroys from Naples until it passed to the Kingdom of Austria. They built imposing fortifications including the great walls and city gates of Orbetello that protected the city from the mainland, and palaces, graineries, and administrative buildings throughout the town, which was their capital, and explains the distinctively Spanish flavor of the town’s architecture.