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The Tower of Capo d'Uomo ☀️ Monte Argentario
- Category Environment and Nature
The Torre di Capo d'Uomo, an ancient structure for maritime sighting, on Monte Argentario.
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The Tower of Capo d'Uomo
The Tower of Capo d'Uomo is a coastal tower, located about 350 meters above sea level in the municipality of Monte Argentario on the top of the hill on which it is located.
From its position it dominates the sea and the high western part of the Argentario promontory, halfway between Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole.
Historical notes
The building was erected in medieval times, most likely by the Aldobrandeschi, before most of their territories were included in the Republic of Siena, even the entire promontory of the Argentario.
During the second half of the sixteenth century, the tower became a fundamental reference for the defense system of the Presidii State, as it was able to send light signals between the Torre di Cala Piccola and the Torre della Maddalena, unable to communicate visually with each other.
For centuries, the tower continued to perform the original sighting functions to which it was used, and was definitively abandoned only in the nineteenth century.
Due to its position in an inaccessible and difficult to access place, no interest was generated in the purchase by private individuals, so it was that the defensive structure underwent rapid deterioration, also favored by the strong exposure to winds due to its location.
The Tower nowadays
The Tower of Capo d'Uomo, to date, consists of clearly visible ruins, which dominate, even in the distance, the panoramic road that runs along the west coast of the promontory of Argentario.
It preserves the sketch of the quadrangular base shoe, in addition to the remains of the external stone walls that characterized the upper part; around, there are the remains of an annexed building, of which its functions are not yet known.
From the tower hill, the field of vision extends along the entire Maremma coast, towards the Giglio island, Giannutri and, on clear days, Corsica is also clearly visible: all this demonstrates the importance of the fortification in past centuries in the performance of sighting functions.
