E-Bike Tour in the Geneva Mines : Discover the History of Iron

Here, where the green of the Mediterranean maquis fades into the blue of the sea, lies our Tenuta delle Ripalte resort on the Island of Elba, on the Costa dei Gabbiani. A place away from chaos and close to heaven, where time stops and follows the slow pace of nature, where the rust-red earth nourishes centuries-old pine trees and precious vines.
Tenuta delle Ripalte is located 9 km from the town of Capoliveri on Monte Calamita, reachable after 4 km of white road, a suggestive route, which prepares you for your arrival in this special place immersed in a dimension of peace that only the most pristine can give.

What remains of the Calamita mine, closed for economic reasons in 1981, are the remains of the last excavations, the extraction and treatment plants for iron minerals, cutting-edge projects for those times given that it was the most modern and richest in Europe .

Toponym attested from the 16th century and which derives from magnetite, the iron ore of which the local mines are rich, is found in the municipality of Capoliveri, in the south-eastern part of the island of Elba.

Ginevro was the largest and most productive magnetite gallery in Europe, the flagship of Italian iron and steel production.

External excavations are somewhat limited, because unlike Calamita and the other mines on Elba, it is the only one where internal excavation has been undertaken through boreholes and galleries which starting from +6 meters developed on various levels up to to reach 54 meters below sea level.

In operation from 1971 to 1981, it was one of the most modern mines in Europe, built with very innovative criteria for the time.