The Greeks called the island Aegyllon or Aegyllion (Αίγυλλον, see also Giglio). Its current name may have originated in the Etruscan “carpa” - stone - a word that comes from the archaic Greek “Kalpe” - sepulchral stone. The Romans called the island Capraria, its name possibly then morphing to reflect the presence of wild goats (Latin: capra).
In the 4th century AD it housed a cenobium, where the church of St. Stephen now stands.
In 1055 it was conquered by Saracen pirates, and later the Republic of Pisa owned it. It became part of the Republic of Genoa after the Battle of Meloria, being assigned to the patrician Jacopo de Mari (1430). In 1540 the Genoese built the Fortress of St. George on a pre-existing fortification that the African corsair Turgut Reis) had demolished. The Genoese also built three coastal watch towers (part of a system of Genoese towers) to protect against pirates. The three are:
• Torre del Porto (1541), which protected the entrance to the harbour, and which replaced or added to an earlier tower dating to 1510;
• Torre dello Zenobito (1545); and
• Torre delle Barbici (1699), also known as Torre della Teja or Torre della Regina. It is the only tower with a square shape, which makes it somewhat similar to the De Redin towers on Malta. Torre delle Barbici is in a fairly dilapidated state. Since 2009 a path connects it to the port.
In 1767 troops under Pasquale Paoli of the new independent Corsican Republic occupied Capraia. In 1796 the British, under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, occupied the island for a short time, following the creation of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 annexed the Republic of Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia, Capraia became part of the province of Genoa. Then in 1925, it was assigned to Livorno.
Between 1873 to 1986 a penal colony occupied almost two-thirds of
