Porto Ercole

We didn't go far today, just from Porto Santo Stefano on the north side of Monte Argentario to Porto Ercole on the south side. It's another old fishing port, now a rather swish yachting marina. We tried to visit several years ago in August and found ourselves in a slow moving traffic jam from several miles before Porto Ercole to several miles beyond, as everyone looked for, and failed to find, somewhere to park. What a difference it makes to come in September rather than August. Today we parked on the quayside next to the old fishermen repairing their nets.

The old town of Porto Ercole is on the far hillside in this photo. You can see the fort on top of the hill and the protective wall coming down diagonally from the fort to the edge of the sea. At the bottom of the wall is a medieval gate with a plaque commemorating one of the saddest events in its history.

In 1610 the 38 year old Caravaggio was sailing to Rome in the hope of receiving a pardon for the fighting that had caused him to be sent into exile. What is almost certain is that he died in Porto Ercole, recent DNA tests have shown that human remains in a church there are almost certainly those of Caravaggio. What will probably never be known is why he died there. The official report said that he died of a fever. During his life he showed possible symptoms of lead poisoning (from his paints), which can be fatal. Or he may have been murdered by the enemies who disfigured him a few months before in Naples.

The plaque says (forgive my Italian translation): "Here was ended the tormented life of Caravaggio, painter, after the force of his genius had created one of the most shining movements of the human spirit".