f planning a tour of the Tuscan Maremma, a place that deserves a visit is Monte Argentario. 35 kilometres south of Grosseto, Monte Argentario is a peninsula which allows easy access to the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago – Giglio, Giannutri and Montecristo.
Monte Argentario is connected to the coast of the Maremma by three strips of land, forming the Laguna di Ponente and the Laguna di Levante. The promontory was once an island, with its highest peak being the Punta Telegrafo (635 m).
The two main towns in Monte Argentario are Porto Santo Stefano, which faces the north, and Porto Ercole, facing south. As well as its 17th-century fortress, Porto Santo Stefano features two Spanish lookout towers: the Lividonia and the Argentiera. The town also has two harbours: Porto Vecchio and Porto del Valle. Porto Ercole is instead the final resting place of the painter Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, who was exiled by the Pope and died here of a fever in 1610.
