 The Spaniards heavily fortified the two ports, as the main stronghold of the State of Presidi.In 1815, after Napoleon's defeat, the Argentario was handed over to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until 1860, when it became part of the newly united Kingdom of Italy.The painter Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, died of a fever at Porto Ercole in 1610.