© Superintendency for the Archeological Heritage of Tuscany

The Spanish Fortress of Porto Santo Stefano has contained since 1997 a permanent museum that is dedicated to the archeological findings found in the area of the sea opposite the coasts of Maremma, which testify to the intense commercial activities along the routes of the Mediterranean.

The route of the exhibition, set up in the fortress, is set out on two floors around a central courtyard that hosts the reconstruction of a Roman transport ship with its load of “dolia” (large spherical containers) and amphora used in transport.

In the rooms on the 1st floor there are exhibited the materials coming from the wrecks found since the 1960s in the waters around “le Formiche”, the port of Talamone, the western coast of the Argentario and the island of Giannutri, and there are amphora for holding wine, ceramic tableware and tools for use on board.

One section is dedicated to the “thousand-year art” of “making wood sail” - the art of the carpenter. In the display cases there are exhibited the tools of the trade that are necessary for constructing or repairing wooden boats.

The rooms located on the upper floor host the commercial loads of the wrecks found on the sea floor opposite the port of Punta Ala and off the Isola del Giglio (that have to do with Greek and Roman shipping), as well as the furnishings of a ship that got wrecked off Capel Rosso (Giglio) on 14 June 1646 and which can be identified with the Spanish Frigate “Santa Catalina”.

Of great interest is finally the exhibition of those materials found in the Lagoon of Orbetello, near “Punta degli Stretti”, a true witness to the daily life of a community settled on the lake’s expanse of water during the end of the Bronze Age. There are ceramic fragments, instruments for sewing and tools used for fishing.

Porto Santo Stefano, Permanent Exhibition In The Spanish Fortress, Submerged Memories And Shipwrights: the findings of the wrecks of Isola del Giglio (Mount Argentario)

Porto Santo Stefano, Permanent Exhibition In The Spanish Fortress, Submerged Memories And Shipwrights: the findings of the wrecks of Punta Ala (Mount Argentario)

Porto Santo Stefano, Permanent Exhibition In The Spanish Fortress: Submerged Memories And Shipwrights (Mount Argentario)

Porto Santo Stefano, Permanent Exhibition In The Spanish Fortress, Submerged Memories And Shipwrights: the findings of the wrecks of Giannutri (Mount Argentario)

Address:
Fortezza Spagnola - Porto Santo Stefano (GR)

Opening hours:
October - 15 June: every weekend 10.00 - 12.00; 15.00 - 19.00
15 June - 15 September: open daily 18.00 - 24.00
Out of  hours opening can be arranged by prior booking

Tickets:
Adults: €2.00
Concessions: €1.00 (residents and over-60 year old visitors)

Contact:
Tel: +39 0564 810681