Capoliveri is one of the most interesting of the island and is one of the towns most loved by tourists, the ancient village is situated on a green hill and its beautiful piazza has the semblance of a splendid terrace overlooking the sea with the background of the church bell always lit.
Following the final defeat of piracy barbaresca, the island experienced a strong internal migration from the hillside to the sea, butCapoliveri was not involved in this process and its importance was not ever to decline.
Although the village is in Hill, the municipality There are some of the most beautiful beaches on the island as the Innamorata , beach Madonna delle Grazie and Lacona : one of the most loved by young people.
The area was already populated in an Etruscan-Roman. Have been found coins and statuettes hour stored at the Archaeological Museum in Naples. During the Roman Empire were documented the names Caput Liberum, Capitis Ilvae, Caput Liseri or Caput Liveri. The meaning is not certain. Maybe the name is in relation with God Liber or Bacchus. As Pliny described the wine-growing region, this explanation, according to some historians, it would be possible.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, that is during the Roman-Kingdoms barbaric, Elbe became a refuge for the people of central Italy. Dall’XI the fourteenth century was part of the Municipality of Pisa, from 1399 it was ruled by the Duke of Piombino. In 1548 he was transferred to Cosimo I de ‘Medici (1519-1574), the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. Philip III of Spain conquered Longone Porto in 1596 and in 1709 became part of the Kingdom of Sicily.
After the campaign of Italy Napoleon I in 1799 the population of Capoliveri developed a stubborn resistance. When citizens killed a group of French soldiers fleeing Longone, the counterattack of a garrison from Portoferraio destroyed almost the entire country. This historical background explains why when Napoleon I in 1814, arrived in exile as King of Elba, was greeted with scepticism to Capoliveri, while all other communes of the greeted as a liberator. The people refused to pay taxes; resistance was led by two local priests. Terminò, however, when these organizers were arrested.
During the Risorgimento your doctor Vincenzo Silvio (born in Capoliveri May 9th 1805) was known as a patriot. He was arrested in Rome for his ideas on national and gave up his career, was dismissed “for failure”. After the unification of Italy, in 1860 returned to Capoliveri military as a doctor. After his death (1873) were destroyed documents for this family and the character was forgotten for many years. Today, a private association dedicated to research on his life and has asked the Administration municipal intitolargli a street in the country.
Today one of the most important economic resources for Capoliveri is tourism.
