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Island of Elba 
Seccheto, town
of the municipality
Campo nell'Elba
Seccheto Tourist information
Seccheto is a graceful beach resort in the municipality of Campo nell’Elba. Located on the western coast of the island, known as Costa del Sole. The tourist village of Seccheto can host its guests in hotels and holiday houses.
In the village there are many services provided such as a post office, an ATM, a grocery store, fruits and vegetables stall, a bakery, bars, restaurants and a church where the holy service takes place. The village is perched within a hill while behind it rises the fraction of Vallebuia from which many interesting walking paths start for those who love trekking and mountain bike.
Going down towards the sea, there is a nice little marina which is dedicated to the recovery of small boats. This marina is made of a small stretch of water enclosed within a natural cove. The little marina is protected by a cliff and it is reachable from an area which has a comfortable and asphalted descent also accessible to vehicles. Seccheto offers some parking areas which spread within the settlements and that are visible from the road which crosses the village. Besides being accessible from the small marina, the beach can also be reached through the parkings linked to it thanks to a walking path.
The beach of Seccheto is about 150m long and is made of clear sand original from granite. It is free to access on one side, while on another side there is a small beach rental called “La Baracchina” which guarantees safety and lifeguard on the beach and on the sea. The beach rental also has a bar, a shower, toilettes and a dressing room.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SECCHETO
Curiosity about Seccheto
It is told that the name of Seccheto comes from an anecdote which features a donkey and its patron. Apparently during a walk from Sant’Andrea to Seccheto the donkey wouldn’t stop braying causing the stress of the farmer who couldn’t stop it and didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, the donkey stopped braying, probably got captured by the calm and cosy atmosphere and the farmer finally pleased exclaimed in dialect from Elba “
: oh! Finalmente s'è cheto! (which literally means it got silent...It is quiet)
History of Seccheto
Seccheto, so as all the coast which includes the fractions of Seccheto, Fetovaia and Vallebuia, is characterized by a very ancient history proved by many evidences which have remained in the territory; from the granite sheets erected in the rocks and the case tombs found in the area of Piano alle Sughere above Fetovaia, as signs of ancient settlements.
There are also various remains of the iron fusion and the cooking of clay pots that have been found and which date back to the Etruscan times. In addition there were huge columns and artifacts that got used to build important monuments; these columns were firstly abandoned by the Romans, then by the Pisani during the Middle Ages.
Elba has always been exploited for its minerals and for its treasured stones, in particular for the iron and the granite, always considered a very precious and strong stone for ornamental buildings.
The Romans stayed in Elba for over seven centuries, from 250 B.C to the late empire and highly exploited the area of Seccheto, by opening the quarries in Vallebuia and Cavoli. One of the quarries is also visible from the sea, that is why today we call it “cava a mare” located on the east side of the Seccheto beach.
Here many columns made of granite were processed and then dispatched to some monuments in Rome; seven of these columns are to be found in the colonnade of the Pantheon, while many others lie abandoned on the hills of Cavoli and Vallebuia as they were defective or imperfect, yet other ones have slipped away during transportation and fell lost in some place where they could not be taken back; other columns are hidden in the sea because they fell while loading.
In ancient times urban settlements were located uphill, away from the coast, however the exploitation of the quarries of granite transformed Cavoli and Seccheto into loading ports for blocks and artifacts; these ports have remained active even after World War II. After the Romans around the sixth century, and following a long period of invasion from the Franks, the island went under the Bizantino domination. Nogerat and Nolten claim that eighteen columns of the Aquisgrana cathedral come from Seccheto and were once brought by the emperor Costantino to Colonia and from there to Aquisgrana by Charlemagne.
Later the island became property of the Church and in that period it had gone through many invasions by the Saraceni who were finally defeated in the sea by the tustan power in 874. So the Church decided to assign to Elba a kind of protectorate over the islands, which then translated into direct sovereignty.
The Pisani controlled Elba from the eleventh to the fourteenth century; They were so much interested in its resources that got to open the granite quarries again. In the churches built in Pisa during that period the granite from Elba is very much present, as well as in the Duomo, having twenty-four big columns in the main nave and fourteen more slightly smaller. Besides processing their columns, the Pisani used those ones which had been abandoned by the quarries during the Roman times.
A long conflict with Genova marked the end of the Pisani domination and the island went under the rule of the Appiani lords of Piombino in the fourteenth century. After many attacks from the turkish and arab pirates, came the Medici. Under their rule many works with granite were commissioned to build churches and monuments in Florence, such as a huge monolith brought by the Duke Cosimo for the realization of a great basin that is found today in the Giardino dei Boboli.
Later the domination was taken by England and France until the arrival of the exiled Napoleon I in 1814. Regardless this intricate period the quarries have continued to work, despite some interruption until today. Until 1918 the stone-cutters worked under a german industry of the Zimmer, who had established in Cavoli and Seccheto a flourishing industry of granite. The blocks were brought to the sea on rails and then loaded thanks to a sort of winch called “pick”; there were many of them visible along the coast. When the germans lost the 15-18 war the Zimmer too finished their business in Elba. Everything was taken by the Combattenti e Reduci Club and some part was taken by the lawyer Piero Mellini from Florence who started again the industry of granite.
He also built a modern power station which facilitated the work in the quarries and brought the electric light in Seccheto in a time where there wasn’t yet the road to connect it to Marina di Campo. Later a cooperative for the granite was established which is still active today. In addition, the agricultural tradition has always been great and this is testified by the hundreds terraces found under the reliefs in Vallebuia; these were smartly built for the cultivation of vine as well as other products.
Foto by Seccheto
Beaches close to Seccheto
Seccheto offers a beautiful and fully equipped sandy beach which is reachable by foot from the village where you will have the chance to park your car. The beach is partly free to access as well as occupied by a bar and beach rental offering all major services to the tourist. On the far ends of the beach there are rocks made of granite which are perfect for sunbathing if you wish more calm and privacy. The beaches of Cavoli and Fetovaia are also very beautiful and deserve to be visited;they are only 2km away from the village.
Marina di Campo Beach
Wide sandy beach perfect for children.
Features: equipped with beach clubs.
Fetovaia Beach
Golden sand and granite cliffs ideal for families.
Features: equipped with beach clubs.
Colle Palombaia Beach
Quiet graveled beach mixed with sand.
Features: quiet and wild, ideal for relaxing.
Giardino brach
Black pebbly beach close to Fetovaia.
Features: it is isolated, so it is preferable to reach it by sea.
Tombe beach
Dark pebbly beach close to Fetovaia.
Features: three beaches, some frequented by nudists.
Piscine Rocks
Granite cliffs near Seccheto.
Features: sunny granite rocks popular among nudists.
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