{"id":308901,"date":"2024-08-09T21:07:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T19:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/what-to-see\/porto-ercole-fort-star-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:41:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:41:45","slug":"porto-ercole-fort-star","status":"publish","type":"what-to-see","link":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/what-to-see\/porto-ercole-forte-stella\/","title":{"rendered":"Forte Stella"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forte Stella overlooks Porto Ercole<\/strong><\/a> and is one of the most fascinating fortifications on the Argentario promontory. Situated near Spiaggia dello Sbarcatello, the fort was part of the imposing coastal defence system of the State of the Presidi, created by the Spanish to control the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.<\/p>\n

The fortress was built in the second half of the 16th century, after Monte Argentario came under the control of the Spanish Crown. The site chosen for its construction was already home to the pre-existing Forte Sant\u2019Ippolito, a Renaissance structure that was incorporated and adapted into the new defensive project.<\/p>\n

Forte Stella was designed as a strategic lookout and communication point. Thanks to its commanding position, it could maintain visual contact with numerous coastal towers and fortifications, including the Torre dell\u2019Avvoltore, the Aldobrandeschi fortress at Porto Ercole and even the Torre di San Pancrazio near Ansedonia. From here, sentries monitored a vast stretch of sea extending as far as the coast of Civitavecchia.<\/p>\n

The construction of the fort took many decades, and it was not finally completed until the second half of the 17th century. Despite the alterations made over time, the original design drawn up by the architects commissioned by Philip II of Spain was largely retained.<\/p>\n

The complex stands out for its spectacular military architecture. The fort consists of two concentric defensive structures: an outer quadrangular fortification with pentagonal bastions at the corners and, at the centre, the inner fortification with its characteristic six-pointed star-shaped plan, which gave the fortress its name.<\/p>\n

The high scarp walls, numerous embrasures, the parapet walk and the watchtowers still bear witness today to the efficiency of the Spanish defensive system. On the upper terrace, sentries kept watch over the sea and sent light signals to the other coastal towers in the event of danger.<\/p>\n

Particularly striking is the hexagonal opening at the centre of the summit terrace, designed to provide natural light to the building\u2019s interior spaces. Even today, the fort retains an austere and monumental charm, set amidst one of the Argentario\u2019s most spectacular landscapes.<\/p>\n

With the end of its military functions in the 19th century, Forte Stella was gradually decommissioned. Today, the interior spaces host exhibitions, cultural events and art shows during the summer season, transforming this ancient fortress into a place where history, culture and sea views come together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover Forte Stella in Porto Ercole, a historic Spanish fortress on Monte Argentario with a star-shaped layout, panoramic ramparts and views of the Tyrrhenian Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":235941,"template":"","village-conntection":[50956],"what-to-see-region-and-provinces":[76213,76210],"what-to-see-category":[101776],"class_list":["post-308901","what-to-see","type-what-to-see","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","village-conntection-porto-ercole-it","what-to-see-region-and-provinces-grosseto-en","what-to-see-region-and-provinces-tuscany","what-to-see-category-castle-rocca-fortress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see\/308901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/what-to-see"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see\/308901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"village-conntection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/village-conntection?post=308901"},{"taxonomy":"what-to-see-region-and-provinces","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see-region-and-provinces?post=308901"},{"taxonomy":"what-to-see-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see-category?post=308901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}