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In the provinces of Grosseto there are many places
of a high archeological, artistic or monumental interest.
The Grosseto area had already been inhabited since the
prehistory and, starting from the 8th century, the flourishing
Etruscan civilization began to develop. The Etruscans
were skilled craftsmen and business men, and they created
a very developed civilization, which has left us substancial
traces. Not far from Grosseto are situated the rests
of two of the greatest and mighty Etruscan towns: Roselle
and Vetulonia. Roselle, famous for its great fortification
walls, is a remarkable example of Etruscan architecture.
Even if a Roman town was afterwards built covering the
older one, Roselle is still, thanks to the rests of
the original Etruscan town, one of the most interesting
archeological sites of the territory
Vetulonia had been already a flourishing town since
the 7th century, and nowadays it is famous for its Etruscan
tombs (Pietrara's one, Diavolino's one, etc.) and also
for the Roman quarter "Scavi di città" (town excavations)
and for its Acropolis. Above the towns of "Ghiaccio
Forte" (strong ice) in Scansano, of strategic importance
and recently discovered, Heba and Marsiliana, you should
visit the Saturnia thermal baths, already famous at
Romans'time. You will find Etruscan traces in the Fiora
valley, in Pitigliano, Poggio Buco (in Statonia) and
Sovana, whose necropolis have been digged in the tuff.
Here there are great tombs, like the "Ildebranda", in
the surroounding area of the town, in an attracting
landscape. On the coast, in the Uccellina Mountains
and Burano lake area, traces of two civilizations meet
together, the one upon the other: the Roman and the
Etruscan one, in Orbetello and Talamone.
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On the contrary, of Roman origins are the "Villa"
in the island of Giannutri and the ruins of the great
town Cosa (in Ansedonia), where it is also possible
to appreciate the "Tagliata Etrusca": it is a watering
system built by the Romans to avoid the sanding up of
the port. During the first period of the High Middle
Ages the area was characterized by the presence of the
Benedictine monks (the S.Rabano abbey on the Uccellina).
This area flourished again when, from the 9th to the
13th century, the Aldobrandeschi family came to the
power. They ordered many castles to be built. The most
important castles are the following ones: Scarlino,
Porrona, Arcidosso, Montepo, Marsiliana, Triana, Manciano,
Selvena etc. The belongers to the Aldobrandeschi family
were sent away from the power in 1200 by the Senesi
(people from Siena); the Senesi were in fact living
an expansive phase, which led to the building of great
defensive works: (the castle of Talamone, the Cassero
of Grosseto, The Wall of Magliano and Saturnia, the
fortification of Paganico etc.).
The most important religious monument in this area is
the Massa Marittima cathedral, built between the 13th
and the 14th century. Some other historic religious
buildings deserve to be mentioned: the cathedrals of
Grosseto and Sovana and the churches of Montemerano,
Montepescali, Campagnatico and Arcidosso. Roccastrada
offers marked paths, which spread through many colours:
countless green shades, interrupted by the yelllow of
the brooms, by the red of the poppies and by the blue
of the cornflowers, that grow on the spring fields.
Some walks, that you can enjoy both on foot and by bycicle,
join the ruins of castles, medieval villages, towers
and country churches, all full of history, and which
have maintained their ancient atmosphere; Roccastrada,
chief town and medieval centre dating back to the 10th
century; the S. Niccolò church, with two '600 frescos
that portray the Annunciazione and the Virgin Lady with
the Holy Child (both of them have been recently restored
by the local archeological club); Montemassi, a medieval
village with a stately castle, which has been many times
exposed to sieges between the 14th and the 15th century.
The occupation of Montemassi by the Sienese Republic,
in 1328, is described in the famous and questioned fresco
by Simone Martini. The painting is in the Globe Hall
in the Public Palace in Siena. Roccatederighi stands
on a cliff facing the Maremma. Inside the village you
can notice the rests of the old castles and of the walls.
In the upper part of the inhabited centre, there is
the Bishop S. Martino parish church, already known during
the 10th century. The villages of Roccatederighi and
Sassofortino, not far the one from the other, are situated
on the Sassoforte Mountain declivity; upon the top of
the mountain (750 m.) there are the rests of a stately
castle. Ribolla, a place where there is a very important
brown coal mine, has been strongly influenced in its
building by its ancient rule of miners village. Sticciano
has been mentioned for the first time in a document
in 966. This village offers a wonderful landscape over
the whole Maremma. On a natural balcony there is a Roman
church with a single rectangular nave and a half-circle-like
apse.
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