TURN YOUR HOLIDAY IN A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE, EXCITING AND CAPTIVATING
We realized to have unknown heritages and enchanted places just
a few steps away from the Villaggio Turistico Innamorata.
Discover the history of this Island in funny ways and, with the help of our Village, you can
live the ancient and wild nature of this paradise.
Mountain Bike, Trekking, Scuba Diving: we rent the necessary equipment
and we give assistance to those who want to practice these activities in Elba.
Mountain Bike
The bicycle is a perfect way to discover the most wild and unspoiled nature of our Island. Enjoy a unique experience away from the stress of the city and totally immersed in an incredible landscape. The mines of Monte Calamita offer paths of different levels of difficulty for everybody, from athletes to families.
There are many paths running between sky and sea, through the strong and rigorous nature of the Mediterranean shrub.
Mountain bike per Superman
WC Tour
10,2 km Trail with 611 metres of difference in altitude; gradient max 35% - average 11,5%; difficulty: demanding.
If the dust, the mud, the cliffs and the jumps are your specialty and the extreme tiredness does not scares you, try the trail
of the cross-country world cup, held on these mountains, defined as unique in the international circuit.
LC Tour
41 km Trail with 1936 metres of difference in altitude; gradient max 24,3% - average 8%;
difficulty: extreme.To test your skills or increase your workout, set off on an endurance test with your teammates or your holiday buddies,
without ever taking the same narrow trails for 40 kilometres.
The “Parco Nazionale del Monte Calamita” allows you to create an endless loop and never take the same route twice.
Discovery Bike Tourism
If you acknowledge the beneficial effects of the amateur physical exercise and you want to relax your body and mind, we suggest some ideas to find places forgotten by man, simply by taking out your bike:
- Destination Porto Azzurro. Passing by Naregno and Marina di Capoliveri, we suggest a little stop for a walk along the seafront of Porto Azzurro, and then prepare yourself for the ascent to the antique Fort, now a jail. You will arrive under the wall that surrounds it. Follow the trail that flanks it until you reach the Barbarossa Beach. Return to Villaggio Innamorata.
- Destination Rio Elba. Rio Elba is a small village already known to the Etruscans for its iron, where time seems to stand still and where you can admire characteristic construction like "l’Antico Lavatoio" and "l'Eremo di Santa Caterina" with its Botanical Garden of typical plants from Elba. Return to Villaggio Innamorata.
- Destination Villaggio delle Ripalte. Along the famous dirt road of the “Costa dei Gabbiani”, where the horizon gets lost behind the Islands of Montecristo, Pianosa and Corsica, the stops will be unavoidable to immortalize what your eyes will see. Admiring the variation of natural scenery, passed the Mines with their buildings, you will find yourself at the farm of the “Villaggio delle Ripalte” where you can taste the “Convio del Cavatore”, “Schiaccia Briaca” and the typical wine from Elba.
For Families and Ecological Rides
Immerse yourself and your family in a unique, environmentally friendly and relaxing experience, making the most of the dirt trails of the “Parco Nazionale del Monte Calamita”.
Oxygenate your lungs and purify yourselves with the iodine contained in the air, benefiting both your body and mind. Enjoy the sights and scents of nature,
falling in love with them, without worrying of traffic lights, buses and smog. Free your children and let the magic of nature capture them; you will see the happiness in their eyes.
Trekking
Taste the freedom with trekking paths of rare beauty, through the industrial history, lunar landscapes, the colours of minerals, the nature of the National Park and the fantastic sea outline.
The Old Workshop Museum
At the entrance of the Calamita mine, in the heart of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, the Old Workshop Museum,
housed in the workshops of the Vallone Construction site (6 km from Capoliveri) will welcomes you.
There you will find the history of mining, quarrymen and the environment where they lived, reconstructed with original furnishings and objects,
old documents and maps, pictures and videos of traditional Capoliveri.
You will discover everyday life and tales of the miners, mining techniques, characteristics and possible uses of the iron minerals.
All this is housed in the richest and largest construction site of Capoliveri, surrounded by nature, culture and the beautiful sea.
A great opportunity to get to know the area of Capoliveri, the Museum, is the starting point of several trekking paths, guided tours
of the underground mines and the open air building sites, beaches and trails of Monte Calamita.
In the heart of the Earth
The thrill of the underworld, the charm of the past and the touching memory of the men who experienced it will accompany you along the roads of the Ginevro underground mine.
Wear a helmet, enjoy the view and get involved by the mine guides with many stories to tell along the way.
Inside the galleries you will find the history of Capoliveri, the miners’ anecdotes, the ancient work tools, trains, winches and the hammers used for digging 7 km of roads in the rock, up to -54 meters below sea level.
Without facing slopes or challenging routes you will discover the unusual landscapes of the mine shaft and how it looked like working, struggling, eating and living in the mine.
The collection of minerals
A good dose of curiosity, attentive eyes and the will to learn are the right equipment to discover the minerals of Calamita. The mine guides give good tips, curiosities, stories and a little hammer to experience the day of the geologist in search of treasures hidden in the oldest rocks of the island. Magnetite, Pyrite, Hematite and Limonite are the treasures, rich in iron, of miners and collectors, attracted by the shapes and colours of these minerals. Chalk appears in small and beautiful yellow crystals, grown over the Limonite. The red and yellow Ochres, rich in iron, stain a little bit the fingers so you will understand why, after a fine grinding, they were used to make colours for painting houses and churches of the island. Blue and green reveal the presence of Azurite, Chrysocolla and Malachite, all copper minerals. Ilvaite, Garnets, Calcite and Aragonite will gratify the most careful seekers.
Guided Trekking • The route of the old railway
Our environmental tour guides will accompany you with their competence and friendliness along the various paths between Capoliveri and Calamita mines; the paths are accessible to everyone. The path covers the old railway track which used to connect the open air construction site of the Vallone to the boarding location, near the Innamorata beach, right in front of the Gemini Islands. The steam railway, born in the early years of the twentieth century, represented a step forward for the transportation of the iron ore. From the mine to the dock, a train was running 6 km every day, loaded with Magnetite, Hematite, and Limonite to be taken on board of the merchant ships that were waiting in the bay. The blast furnace of Portoferraio, which had just been built, required huge quantities of ore to produce cast iron and steel. The iron was the Island’s biggest treasure therefore almost all men of Elba worked for this thriving industry either in the plants or excavations. The trail takes us back along the railway, following the thread of this long history, through fast historical, economic and social changes, in order to discover the roots of the Capoliveri inhabitants.
Guided Trekking • The path of the Miners
The starting point of this route is Piazza del Cavatore; we follow the sign to the police station and once passed by it, after a few meters of unpaved road, we find a crossroad: we take the steeper road and we face an uphill a bit challenging for about 30 minutes; we will be rewarded by the splendid view of Capoliveri, Portoferraio and Porto Azzurro.
Nearby are several parking areas, bars, restaurants, a pharmacy, the city hall and the info point. We follow the path of
the miners to the Galleria del Ginevro, on the southernmost point of the Mount Calamita. We are on the path 82.
After a break to take photos we go straight, following the crest of the Mount Calamita, taking a look at the typical scrub
vegetation and reforestation areas. If we pay attention, it’s not unusual to meet Pheasants, Hoopoes and other migratory
birds and also birds of prey like the Peregrine Falcon and the Buzzard. An hour walk and we are at the crossroad between
the paths 70 and 82; we begin to descend towards the "Tenuta delle Ripalte", with its vineyards and large wine cellar, which we will cross before arriving at the Ginevro site.
Once passed the Ripalte wine cellar, we cross its vineyards and shortly after we find another crossroad:
on the left is the mine, marked by the sign of the State property, on the right the sign for Remaiolo, a beautiful beach with a restaurant.
Once on the mine road we stop to observe better the extraction facilities and processing of the ore: the
tower that stands in the square in front of us is the extraction castle. It was once used to retrieve Magnetite from underground,
already crushed into small pieces, at -54 meters below sea level!
The conveyor belt carried the mineral to the plant made of tiers that we see on the cliff, called washery: there, the iron ore was magnetically separated from the sterile part, less rich in iron oxides and then carried by road or by sea to the mining facilities. The processing waste was dropped into the sea, changing forever the coastline: the black space overlooking the sea, where our walk ends, was once a small bay!
We look carefully the dark colour, from red to black, of the rocks: the Magnetite that was dug here is the best iron
ore in the world, with a percentage of approximately 80%.
We continue to descend, passing under the conveyor belt, to the sea,
just near the entrance of the only underground mine of Elba, the most important deposit of iron in Europe, closed in 1981 due to the
competition of developing countries. With the tour guides of Calamita mine you can visit the underground worksite and discover the
incredible maze of roads, wells and chasms dug in the hard rock as well as the life of the underground miners.
Guided Trekking • The Calamita loop
This is certainly one of the most beautiful scenic paths of Capoliveri; there are no difficulties nor great slopes and it overlooks the entire coast of the headland, allowing you to discover the variety and the beauty of the bays as well as the wildest and the most peaceful coves, the imprint of the mine in the landscape and one unusual view of Capoliveri from up high, with Stella Gulf as a background. Approximately 11,5 km long, the path winds through the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, among pine woods and Mediterranean bush, characterized by Rockrose, Broom, Mastic, Erica and Rosemary.
Scuba Diving
For scuba diving lovers, the sea of Elba is almost a dream come true. Sea, snorkelling and scuba diving lovers will all find a hidden treasure on the sea bed: Shoals, crumbling rocks, caves, shipwrecks and underwater landslide dropping deep down, home for many colourful forms of life that will take your breath away.
In Pomonte, at a depth of only 12 meters, you can swim down to the Elviscot shipwreck that lies near the Ogliera Rock. Do not miss out the Scoglietto dive, opposite Le Ghiaie beach in Portoferraio; since 1971, it’s a biological protection area, so it won't be difficult for you to image what wonders you can find around the landslide that goes down as far as 25 meters.
On the south side of the Island you can admire the fan-shaped “Paramuricea clavata “ at a depth of just 25 meters together with fascinating colonies of Red Coral, nowadays very rare at shallow depths. The fish never misses and depending on the season in which you dive you can make unique encounters: from the Mola Mola at the beginning of the season, the Peter's Fish and the Angler, continuing with the Common Eagle Ray, all the way to diving in the midst of the Cassiopea (upside-down jellyfish), not harmful for the man and a shelter for many small fishes.
Everywhere you will go diving you won’t be disappointed. The diving spots can only be reached
by boat or inflatable boat. Our Diving Centre has high qualified
staff, which will give you all the equipment you need to dive in complete safety with the maximum of the fun.
We collaborate with the Mandel Diving Centre which with his strategic position allows you to reach the best diving spots in no time.
From north, with the suggestive “Scoglietto di Portoferraio”, to the most desirable Island of Pianosa, open to diving tourism only from 2013, which always offers stunning encounters.
The logistic of Mandel Diving Centre,
with workstations on the three sides of the island,
allows you to go diving with every marine weather condition!
Being an Aqualung - Tribord diving centre, here you can rent the latest generation equipment, all recently renewed.
The Mandel Diving Centre makes everybody happy with the snorkelling tours allow you to accompany your friends while they go diving.
Otherwise you can take advantage of the services offered by the Village like the equipped seaside resort, kayak rental, pedal boat and inflatable
boats, windsurfing school or fitness classes on the beach!!!
What to say……we will accompany you in your holiday and help you having the best of the fun!!!
A CORNER OF PARADISE WHERE
YOU WILL WANT TO COME BACK
The Residential Hotel Villaggio Turistico Innamorata located right on the sea, in the Innamorata Bay, takes its name from an ancient legend orally passed down over the centuries.
Nowadays this legend is recalled every 14th of July by a historical parade with period costumes, which in the evening hours parade through the streets of Capoliveri and then on the Innamorata beach, lit by a thousand torches.
Integrated in the surrounding Mediterranean vegetation and close to the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago, the Villaggio offers one-room and two-room apartments located in four different structures.
In the village there are manicured gardens for meditation, reading, conversation and study.
