From 1937 on August 15 of every year, excluding the war years, the Palio Marinaro dell’Argentario takes place in Porto Santo Stefano, a rowing race among the longest in the world, which consists of a competition between the four districts of the country, Pilarella, Valle, Croce and Fortezza. The individual crews are composed of a helmsman plus four rowers, who must travel ten times the distance of four hundred meters between two buoys for a total of four thousand meters.
In June, on the occasion of the celebrations of the patron saint of Sant’Erasmo in Porto Ercole, a nocturnal procession of paved boats takes place. The event provides, since 1978, the holding of a rowing palio in the old port, known as the Four Fortresses, named after the Spanish fortresses that surround the town: Forte Filippo, the Rocca, Forte Santa Caterina, Forte Stella.
