PIOMBINO

town, Livorno provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, central Italy. It lies at the tip of the Piombino promontory below Mount Massoncello, opposite the island of Elba. Once a possession of the archbishops of Pisa, it was declared a princedom in 1594 and was variously owned or occupied before becoming part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Its Piazza Bovio, standing on a cliff, is one of the finest squares in Italy. Nearby Populonia has Etruscan, Roman, and medieval remains. An old seaport with significant shipping traffic, Piombino has ironworks and steelworks and provides passenger and car ferry service to Elba; it is connected by branch railway with Campiglia Marittima on the main Rome-Genoa line. Pop. (1991 prelim.) mun., 36,527.