Porto Azzurro is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany; it is on the island of Elba, located about 130 kilometres (81 miles) southwest of Florence and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Livorno. It was formerly called Porto Longone, and in 1557 Iacopo VI Appiani, Prince of Piombino, granted Spain the right to build a fortress there, so it was transferred to the State of the Presidi that it was born as a direct possession of the crown of Spain. The state had only governors sent by the central Spanish government first and then Austrian. In 1801, Napoleon established the Kingdom of Etruria. Eventually it was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
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Porto Longone in the context of State of the Presidi
The State of the Presidi (Italian: Stato dei Presidi, meaning "state of the garrisons") was a small territory on the Tuscan coast of Italy that existed between 1557 and 1801. It consisted of remnants of the former Republic of Siena—the five towns of Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano on the promontory of Monte Argentario, as well as Orbetello, Talamone and Ansedonia—and their hinterland, along with the islet of Giannutri and the fortress of Porto Longone on the island of Elba.
The Presidi encompassed about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi). They were effectively attached to the Kingdom of Naples and changed hands several times with it, resulting in three distinct historical periods. From 1557 to 1707, they were a possession of the Crown of Spain administered by the Spanish Habsburg viceroy of Naples; from 1708 to 1733, a possession of the Austrian Habsburgs administered by their viceroy in Naples; and from 1733 to 1801, a dependency of the Spanish Bourbon kings of Naples. By the Treaty of Florence of 28 March 1801, the king of Naples ceded the Presidi to the French Republic, which then ceded them to the new Kingdom of Etruria. After the downfall of France in 1814 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the territories were granted to the restored Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
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