Population: 11,048
Altitude: 19 m. above sea level

The town was founded in 1770 and stretches along the seashore on the south coast of the island and is the only inhabited centre of the archipelago of La Maddalena.

In 1793 a French expedition, led by Napoleone Bonaparte, landed on the island and tried to seize the archipelago, but they were driven back by the courageous resistance of the local people.

In 1887, La Maddalena became a military base for the Italian Marines and remained an important naval base until the end of the Second World War.
The island of Santo Stefano currently hosts an
American base for atomic submarines.

The town's historical centre is particularly striking. It is characterised by steps, narrow roads and streets paved in granite, overlooked by elegant buildings dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The vestry of the parish church of S. Maria Maddalena conserves the two candelabra and a silver cross which Admiral Nelson donated to the town. Today the economy is based mainly on tourism, fishing and the presence of the Military Marina.

Things to see:

• Cala Gavetta.
  A fishing and tourist harbour which lies to the west of the town of La Maddalena.
  
  
• Museo Archeologico Navale "Nino Lambroglia".
  This is a naval museum dedicated to marine archaeology.
  
  
• Porto Massimo.
  A tourist harbour on the northern coast of the island, near Porto Lungo.
  
  
• Guardia Vecchia.
  This is the highest point on the whole island and here visitors can also admire the fortress of 'Forte S. Vittorio', built at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
  
  
• The Panoramic Road.
  The coast road round the island offers visitors an incredible scenic route which embraces one of the most beautiful coastlines in the whole Mediterranean.
  
  
• Caprera.
  This island lies to the east of the town of La Maddalena and is joined to the larger island by the Passo Moneta dam wall and a causeway. It is 600 m. long, with a surface area of 15.75 sq. km and a coastline stretching for 34 km.
  
  
• Museo Garibaldino.
  The Garibaldi Museum occupies the "White House", the main building in the "Garibaldi Complex", which includes the structures and residential areas where Garibaldi lived and worked. One of the paths in the complex leads to Garibaldi's Tomb.
  
  It is a simple sarcophagus formed by a large, rough granite boulder, beside which lie the tombs of his children.