Tuscany (3.500.000 inhabitants) is perhaps the most flourishing region in Italy in terms of art. The territory consists of hills (Chianti), mountains (Apuane Alps, Monte Amiata) and plains (Versilia).The archipelago of Tyrrhenian islands like Elba, Giglio and Capraia are also part of the region. And so is the Maremma, savage land of rocky cliffs, clear waters, wild foals and tales of brigands.

Tuscan is basically the same as Italian (Dante, writer, ‘Il Bel Paese là dove il sì suona’, the cradle of the so-called ‘bello stile’), a spoken language that can be elegant an graceful (Siena and Firenze) or sharp and coarse (Livorno), yet always open, rich in plain phonemics and vivid images. Manzoni (author of The Betrothed) is famous for stating that he decided to cleanse his novel from impurities and dialects by rinsing it in the waters of River Arno (“sciacquò i panni in Arno.”).

The Etruscans (VIII century BC) has established a broadminded and cultivated society where women had the same civil and judicial rights as men. Etruria, Tuscia, Tuscania, and finally Tuscany. During the Renaissance the Tuscans did their best (and worst, as they proved contentious).

They were also parochial people, fragmented like it is in another 1000 small belligerent republics and mutually hostile. In the 1300 and 1400, thanks to the power of the Medici family and the splendours of the Renaissance, Florence (from Florentia, which means flourishing) and Tuscany in general gave birth to an elegant and refined society, rich in art, literature and patronage. Of course there were plots (Guelfi and Ghibellini), conspiracies (the Pazzi) and stakes (Savonarola), but that is because it was still the land of the Florentine Secretary, Nicolò Machiavelli. Yet those were the illuminated and creative years when Tuscany gave art and western culture a major contribution. Dante, Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli and Brunelleschi….

And Florence was the centre of this great revival of humanism. We mustn’t forget Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, and smaller towns like Cortona, Fiesole or San Gimignano – with its one hundred towers -, all true gems of architecture. The lords of these cities always felt their tower had to be slightly taller than that of their rivals – just like in New York.

The Province of Massa e Carrara

The Province of Massa Carrara situated in the northernmost part of Tuscany, in the centre of wonderful places such as the Golfo dei Poeti, the “Cinque Terre” and tuscan art cities.
Here, the nature has created a perfect harmony between the land and the sea.

The Alpi Apuane, famous marble mountains, overlook the sea breaking on the sandy beach, which extends for kilometres.
The excellent geographical position and the exceptional variety of the territory make this part of Tuscany as a paradise, the right destination for any type of tourism.
The Lunigiana is the northernmost part of the province and it stretches beyond the Apuan Alps. This small plot of land – one among the richest of history and tradition – takes its name from Luni, an important centre during the Roman Age.
Following the river Magra, crossing the medieval itineraries of the Via Francigena, it is possible to find the well-preserved signs of an ancient and evolved civilization.
The Province of Massa Carrara takes also is tourist importance from the Apuan Alps, a magnificent mountain chain which reminds, with its peaks and slopes, the morphology of the Alps in northern Italy.
Fantastic mountains, which always, after long walks trough the paths and the fields, offers you a fantastic view of the sea.
But the province is not only mountains and sea, here the tourist will find a variety of landscapes, different in each season.

The many castles, that you will find during your trips, recall to the memory the battles made for the occupation of this small part of Tuscany, which was an independent Principality under the Cybo Malaspina family for many centuries, a noble dynasty which gave to Massa and Carrara an unique mark of renaissance and Baroque Art style.
The quiet Romanesque parishes in the plains and on the hills attract you with their medieval mysticism. You admire their ancient stone structures, which saw many believers stopping there during their walk to the north, to France, to England, to Spain and to all the Faith places along the well known Via Francigena (called also Francesca o Romea), which, today, represent a Pilgrimage Road to destinations as Santiago de Compostela or Reims or Canterbury.
On this road, crossed by pilgrims, crowd and merchants in the past, were raised many villages, that today offer the opportunity to see many artworks, created by great masters from Lucca, Genua, Milan, Florence and from France.
Furthermore, our Province offers an uncontaminated nature to be experienced at first hand. The mild and sunny climate allows the tourists to enjoy the beaches in summer and also in winter.
From the Roman age, the sea of our Province represented a landing place for travellers and traders, who, from Lunigiana, exported the fine hill wine, one among the valuable product which is possible to taste in our territory.
Among the typical products, you will find the popular Lardo di Colonnata, but, during your stay, you can also taste many other delicacies such as: Testaroli with pesto sauce, Chestnut honey, Panigacci, Mushrooms, Focaccette of Aulla, Torte d’erbi (Herb Quiche), Olive bread, Chestnut bread and so on.
The ancient art of stone working, which has been active in the Ligurian-Apuan civilizations since the Roman age, when they were defeated by the Roman Army, at the beginning, was focused on the sandstone , the typical stone of the mysterious stele statues (stone idols dating back to 2000 years BC – t.n.).
But the real thing that attracted Romans and that attracts tourist nowadays, is a white and precious stone: the marble (The fascinating quarries, the art works bearing from marble, and the most suggesting and unique landscape of Europe).

The Province of Massa Carrara situated in the northernmost part of Tuscany, in the centre of wonderful places such as the Golfo dei Poeti, the “Cinque Terre” and tuscan art cities.
Here, the nature has created a perfect harmony between the land and the sea.

The Alpi Apuane, famous marble mountains, overlook the sea breaking on the sandy beach, which extends for kilometres.
The excellent geographical position and the exceptional variety of the territory make this part of Tuscany as a paradise, the right destination for any type of tourism.
The Lunigiana is the northernmost part of the province and it stretches beyond the Apuan Alps. This small plot of land – one among the richest of history and tradition – takes its name from Luni, an important centre during the Roman Age.
Following the river Magra, crossing the medieval itineraries of the Via Francigena, it is possible to find the well-preserved signs of an ancient and evolved civilization.
The Province of Massa Carrara takes also is tourist importance from the Apuan Alps, a magnificent mountain chain which reminds, with its peaks and slopes, the morphology of the Alps in northern Italy.
Fantastic mountains, which always, after long walks trough the paths and the fields, offers you a fantastic view of the sea.
But the province is not only mountains and sea, here the tourist will find a variety of landscapes, different in each season.

The many castles, that you will find during your trips, recall to the memory the battles made for the occupation of this small part of Tuscany, which was an independent Principality under the Cybo Malaspina family for many centuries, a noble dynasty which gave to Massa and Carrara an unique mark of renaissance and Baroque Art style.
The quiet Romanesque parishes in the plains and on the hills attract you with their medieval mysticism. You admire their ancient stone structures, which saw many believers stopping there during their walk to the north, to France, to England, to Spain and to all the Faith places along the well known Via Francigena (called also Francesca o Romea), which, today, represent a Pilgrimage Road to destinations as Santiago de Compostela or Reims or Canterbury.
On this road, crossed by pilgrims, crowd and merchants in the past, were raised many villages, that today offer the opportunity to see many artworks, created by great masters from Lucca, Genua, Milan, Florence and from France.
Furthermore, our Province offers an uncontaminated nature to be experienced at first hand. The mild and sunny climate allows the tourists to enjoy the beaches in summer and also in winter.
From the Roman age, the sea of our Province represented a landing place for travellers and traders, who, from Lunigiana, exported the fine hill wine, one among the valuable product which is possible to taste in our territory.
Among the typical products, you will find the popular Lardo di Colonnata, but, during your stay, you can also taste many other delicacies such as: Testaroli with pesto sauce, Chestnut honey, Panigacci, Mushrooms, Focaccette of Aulla, Torte d’erbi (Herb Quiche), Olive bread, Chestnut bread and so on.
The ancient art of stone working, which has been active in the Ligurian-Apuan civilizations since the Roman age, when they were defeated by the Roman Army, at the beginning, was focused on the sandstone , the typical stone of the mysterious stele statues (stone idols dating back to 2000 years BC – t.n.).
But the real thing that attracted Romans and that attracts tourist nowadays, is a white and precious stone: the marble (The fascinating quarries, the art works bearing from marble, and the most suggesting and unique landscape of Europe).

Chianciano & Val di Chiana: SPA Waters

The Etruscans were the first to discover the beneficial effects of the spa waters that are everywhere in the area, and they linked their religious cults thereto. Freezing water from the peaks of wooded heights, warm water from the belly of the hills and boiling water, the alive and perennial witness of an active and burning subsoil such as that of the nearby Mount Amiata an ancient volcano whose heart is still beating.

The extraordinary effects these waters had on human well-being convinced the Etruscans that they were certainly of divine provenance. So much so that they built temples near the springs, transforming them into actual places of worship.

Modern science has explained very clearly the chemical processes that give our waters their powers, and we have learnt to exploit them in an infinity of ways, each one more pleasurable than the next.

From the poet Horace , fino ai contemporanei Pirandello, Chagall andFellini our spas have been frequented by a great number of people, and we may state that we have a tradition in this field that has lasted more than two thousand years: how many can say the same?

Le immagini, i testi e i marchi sono tratti dal sito www.terresiena.it a cura della APT Siena e Chianciano Terme Val di Chiana

The abundance of the pictorial experience that the lively town of Siena managed to prompt in the last part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth-centuries, is important not only for the quantity produced but for its quality too. Evidence of this is the flourishing of pictorial cycles, sculptural works of major relevance, architectural and urban planning, the creation of decorative objects for the living spaces of the great patricians, and the production of traditional paintings for public and private worship.

The Exhibition at the National Gallery of London, dedicated to the Sienese Renaissance offers a vast array of that production, it cannot possibly represent it in its entirety, considering the works of art which are not portable and the necessity for a selection of the most representative ones.
It becomes very important for the visitor, who wants to deepen his/her knowledge of that period in history, so rich in the development of the figurative arts, to visit the most relevant sites of an itinerary that unfolds through the town centre and the surrounding Sienese territory, territory that has been marked by the most significant artists of the time. These are unmissable places for those who want not only penetrate the soul of the fifteenth-century Sienese art but also its social, economic and religious history.

The two main focal points of Siena representing the civil power on one hand (Palazzo Pubblico and the Spedale di Santa Maria della Scala) and the religious power on the other (The Cathedral) maintain the most relevant examples of that cultural change.
Within the Palazzo Pubblico the sumptuous consistorial hall was decorated by Domenico Beccafumi with scenes of the civic virtues, project that lasted from 1529 to 1535. Emphatic mannerism, vivid colours and daring illusionistic representations attract the spectator to one of the most fascinating pictorial cycles of the time.
Not far way on the Pellegrini street which leads to the baptistery Beccafumi himself, developed a complex series of images with characters from mythology and ancient history, commissioned by the proprietor Marcello Agostini. The cycle is considered as one of the highest expressions of the italian cinquecento, one of the “secret” places in a palace that is still a private property and it will open to the general public in the course of the exhibition, rare chance not to be missed. Almost in front of it, Palazzo del Magnifico, residence of Pandolfo Petrucci, Siena’s ruler, at the time sumptuous patrician residence, furnished by the most important artists present in Siena at the end of the fifteenth-century and of which only the architectural structure remains after it was stripped off of all its decorations and furniture during the XIX century.

Such items are today part of the town and foreign museums’ collections. What is left of the representations are the two evocative scenes frescoed by Girolamo Genga (Flight of Aeneas from Troy, The liberation of the prisoners) in the Pinacoteca Nazionale of Siena.
Not far away Palazzo Piccolomini built by the heirs of Pope Pius II after his death is one of the purest example of Renaissance architecture thought to be built on a plan by Bernardo Rossellino, the pope’s architect. The palace is today the site of the Archivio di Stato of Siena with the museum of the Biccherne where it is possible to admire the outstanding collection of painted biccherna tablets, originally book covers of the ledgers of the biccherna and gabella, the financial and fiscal offices of the commune of Siena.

Almost all the Sienese Renaissance artists ventured on painting the wooden panels, precious like miniatures and very often characterized by the representation of the main events of Sienese history. Sano di Pietro was commissioned more than once to celebrate contemporary people and their noble achievements (in 1457, in 1471, in 1473); Vecchietta depicted the Coronation of Pope Pius II Piccolomini in the biccherna of 1460; Francesco di Giorgio recalled the earthquake in the biccherna of 1467; Neroccio was entrusted with the Intercession of the Virgin Mary to Jesus for the town of Siena and Guidoccio Cozzarelli depicted the scene of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, so skillfully that considering he was confined to the small surface of the tablet the result is with no doubt equal to any of his altarpieces.

For the Sienese Duomo the most innovative artists conceived the main pictorial and sculptural cycles: Bernardino di Betto, known as Pinturicchio, was commissioned to fresco the Piccolomini Library, created to house Pope Pius II’s library and to celebrate his magnificence depicting his deeds in a representation of rare elegance, sharp narrative spirit, formal style and chromatic exuberance. Right below the frescos, the glass cases contain a collection of antiphons decorated with miniatures by Girolamo da Cremona, Liberale da Verona, Sano di Pietro, which are the most outstanding ones of the fifteenth century. Very rich is the production of sculpture which includes the leading figures of the Renaissance plastic arts. To remember just a few important ones: from the bronze Baptist by Donatello to the Ciborium for the high altar by Vecchietta; from the Angels by Francesco di Giorgio and Giovanni di Stefano, to the Candelabras in the form of Angels by Beccafumi, to the Piccolomini’s altar ornate with marble sculptures by Michelangelo. The intarsia work of the marble floor, of an unparalleled elegance, was created by the greatest Sienese artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century: Matteo di Giovanni, Guidoccio Cozzarelli, Benvenuto di Giovanni, Antonio Federighi and above all Domenico Beccafumi who drew thirteen of them.

The Spedale di Santa Maria della Scala in front of the Duomo, very powerful economic institution saw, after the great achievement of the frescos of the Pellegrinaio (in which scenes from the hospital daily life had been depicted by Domenico di Bartolo) the contribution of Vecchietta, in the Grand Vestry, who frescoed the entire hall with stories from the Old and New Testament, and the contribution of Beccafumi with an early work, the Visitation.

Not far away the Pinacoteca Nazionale is some sort of encyclopedia of the Sienese figurative arts where all the artists are vastly represented by very high quality artworks: two very large halls show the works of Francesco di Giorgio, Matteo di Giovanni, Neroccio di Bartolomeo; and the great altarpieces by Vecchietta, Benvenuto di Giovanni, Girolamo di Benvenuto, Francesco di Giorgio and Beccafumi.

The figure of the ruler of Siena, Pandolfo Petrucci is linked to one of the most significant religious building, the Basilica dell’Osservanza, founded by San Bernardino and chosen by Pandolfo as his resting place. In the Vestry, planned by him, there are the elegant choir-stalls of carved wood by Antonio Barili and the sculpture in polychrome terracotta moulded by Giacomo Cozzarelli in an intense expressive language supported by a stylish polychromy, a masterpiece of the Sienese late-Renaissance statuary.

The influence of the revived figurative language in the more classic forms of the late-Renaissance, filtered, with no doubt, through the presence in Siena of the most influential artists of the quattrocento (Donatello, in the first place but also Benedetto da Maiano, Bernardo Rossellino, Luca Signorelli, Pinturicchio) spreading out rapidly through the Sienese culture in such a way to gain commissions even from outside the city’s territory. We can positively affirm that it is not possible to find a place in the whole of the Sienese province that has not seen at least one of the relevant artistic episodes of the time.

An itinerary devised by area will allow us to deepen the knowledge of the Renaissance through those works of art scattered across the whole of the province’s territory and we will be amazed by their quantity and conspicuity.

Le immagini, i testi e i marchi sono tratti dal sito www.rinascimento.terresiena.it a cura della APT Siena e Chianciano Terme Val di Chiana

Florence: art city or art work? The historic centre of Florence contains such a wealth of masterpieces that it is difficult to separate the city from its art works. In 1982 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the motivation being that it encapsulates the whole history of the city, from the ‘Roman quadrilateral’ in the Piazza della Repubblica area to the narrow streets of the medieval city, the splendours of the 16th-century Pitti Palace and the changes wrought at the time when Florence was capital of Italy The density of such a fabulously rich legacy – historic and artistic but also scientific and naturalistic – in a small, well-defined space makes Florence city centre quite unique,

not only in the eyes of the curious visitor but also in those of scholars and local people. With its extraordinarily beautiful churches, its museums and art collections, historic gardens, piazzas, streets and ancient palaces, Florence can justifiably be defined as an “open-air museum” – not simply a container for art works but a work of art in its own right. However, to fully appreciate the artistic richness of Florence, one must also look beyond the city centre: the area “outside the walls” and the province as a whole also has an incredible legacy; the Medici and various affluent merchant families left many traces of their presence there over the centuries, and there is an abundance of religious art. Finally, it should be noted that the Polo Museale Fiorentino (a network of twenty city museums, ranging from the Uffizi to the smallest, least-known one) comprises the greatest concentration of art works in Italy and one of the largest in the world.

Si ringrazia l’APT di Firenze per la gentile concessione delle immagini e firenzeturismo.it per i testi.

Isles of Elba and Capraia are part of the National Park of the Tuscany Archipelago, European largest sea Park. Elba is the biggest. Anciently populated by Ligures, Etruscans and Phoenicians, the isle (ancient name was Ilva) presents natural scenarios of an extraordinary beauty. Rich in iron, it was place of exile for Napoleon, and offers nowadays modern touristic and sporting facilities, sailing regattas, nature and underwater excursions.

Capraia has 385 inhabitants. It is a volcanic island, shaped in centuries by molten rock detritus and stratified eruptive materials. Throughout history, it saw various raids and dominations: Saracens, from Genoa, Corsican, French invaders… Flora and fauna wildlife, along with a now gentle now rough landscape, sets up a unique fascinating nature. .

Comune di Scansano

It’s believed that before 1.000 AD an inhabited area existed in the place where now Scansano rises. The hypothesis is confirmed by the circumstances that the name of Scansano seems to derive from S. Ansano of the Anicia Family, Christian martyr of the 1^st century AD. Situated on a hilly ridge, natural separation between the lands set on the two sides, Scansano suffered different fates during the weary struggles between the Aldobrandeschi and the Republic of Siena. In 1897 Scansano becomes one of the most important Maremma village and, besides the remarkable existing private buildings, there are: the hospital in 1862, the Castagnoli theatre in 1892, the activation of Scansano primary school in 1896. The xx century, in addition to the increase of the cultural heritage, has seen the progressive reorganisation of the agricultural activity and the consequent affirmation of new technologies, especially in olive growing, livestock-breeding and viticulture. The latter has led to the recognition of the Morellino of Scansano d.o.c. and to the expansion of the “Cantina Cooperativa del Morellino di Scansano”.

CONVENT OF PETRETO

The castle of Petreto was mentioned for the first time in writings, which date back to 1274, about the occasion of the division between the two branches of the Counts Aldobrandeschi (Earl of Saint Fiora and of Sovana) and it was submitted to the dominion of the Earl of Saint Fiora. Transformed in Franciscan oratory, the castle was subdued to the Republic of Siena in 1339. It seems that the oratory has entertained St. Bernardino from Siena in 1422. In 1507 the count Guido Sforza opened the convent with its relative church dedicated to St. Pietro to the Petreto. The convent part is, at present, a private property whereas the church is part of Scansano’s parish property.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA OF ” GHIACCIO FORTE “

The etrurian settlement “Ghiaccio Forte ” was located in 1973 thanks to some excavations that , besides wide parts of the boundary walls, brought to light the structures of the urban plant. The following excavations, even if they were brief excavations, last of which dates back to 1981, have allowed to verify the destruction of the inhabited area after a fire, the identification of a “stipe votiva” rich in bronze and pottery, the identification of an oven for melting, the location of three entrances to the inhabited area and some rooms. Recently the archaeological area has been bought by Scansano’s Municipal administration and it can be visited following the indications of the tourist road signs.

THE ROMAN VILLA IN THE SCANSANESE COUNTRYSIDE

In 1986 the Prof. M. Del Chiaro from the University of St Barbara, California, located the walls of a roman construction. Following excavations partially brought to light the walls of a villa whose splendour is testified by the presence of rooms for sauna, remains of paintings, magnificent floors, wide garden and important remains of colonnades. The villa, according to the Prof. Del Chiaro, belonged to the Anilia family and it could date back to the period between the 50 BC and the 50 AD. The villa, brought to light for about a quarter of his extension, is on private property and now it can’t be visited for lack of access.

CASTLE OF MONTORGIALI

The first news about the castle and the court of Montorgiali are in a Bull by Clemente III in 1188 addressed to the Bishop of Grosseto. The castle, of mighty look because of its structure (facciavista) was built on the top of a knoll and has still today important arched windows and shelves of “piombatoi” which are now disappeared. The castle and the village suffered the ups and downs deriving from the hostilities between the Aldobrandeschi of the branch of St Fiora and the Republic of Siena. The counts of Montorgiali, who were at first vassals of the Aldobrandeschi, in 1224 sided with Siena and supported expensive wars that forced them, to face the expenses, to cede the rights of some properties among which Castiglioncello and its relative district. In 1378 Montorgiali was sold to the Republic of Siena. The Castle of Montorgiali, transformed in a residence, is now a private property.

CASTLE OF MONTEPÒ

The Castle of Montepò, built by the noble Roberto Sergardi from Siena in the first half of the 14^th century is 7 Km from Scansano. Montepò is a strengthened farm, or castle – enclosure, which during the years has been object of extensions that have given it the present rectangular plant provided with 4 towers, one for each corner. The access to the wide inner courtyard is situated on the south-west side and it was protected, in the past centuries, by the dominating “caditoia a camino” and by two “balestriere” (two loop-holes for shooting arrows with the crossbows) that are situated on the two towers on the sides of the entry. The Castle of Montepò, recently restored, is a private property.

–

Tourism and wellness

Thanks TV9 – Telemaremma, for granting us this movie.

Tuscany, Elba and Capraia – a Deep Sea

Isles of Elba and Capraia are part of the National Park of the Tuscany Archipelago, European largest sea Park. Elba is the biggest. Anciently populated by Ligures, Etruscans and Phoenicians, the isle (ancient name was Ilva) presents natural scenarios of an extraordinary beauty. Rich in iron, it was place of exile for Napoleon, and offers nowadays modern touristic and sporting facilities, sailing regattas, nature and underwater excursions.

Capraia has 385 inhabitants. It is a volcanic island, shaped in centuries by molten rock detritus and stratified eruptive materials. Throughout history, it saw various raids and dominations: Saracens, from Genoa, Corsican, French invaders… Flora and fauna wildlife, along with a now gentle now rough landscape, sets up a unique fascinating nature. .

Tuscany, a journey in the Renaissance

Tuscany (3.500.000 inhabitants) is perhaps the most flourishing region in Italy in terms of art. The territory consists of hills (Chianti), mountains (Apuane Alps, Monte Amiata) and plains (Versilia).The archipelago of Tyrrhenian islands like Elba, Giglio and Capraia are also part of the region. And so is the Maremma, savage land of rocky cliffs, clear waters, wild foals and tales of brigands.

Tuscan is basically the same as Italian (Dante, writer, ‘Il Bel Paese là dove il sì suona’, the cradle of the so-called ‘bello stile’), a spoken language that can be elegant an graceful (Siena and Firenze) or sharp and coarse (Livorno), yet always open, rich in plain phonemics and vivid images. Manzoni (author of The Betrothed) is famous for stating that he decided to cleanse his novel from impurities and dialects by rinsing it in the waters of River Arno (“sciacquò i panni in Arno.”).

The Etruscans (VIII century BC) has established a broadminded and cultivated society where women had the same civil and judicial rights as men. Etruria, Tuscia, Tuscania, and finally Tuscany. During the Renaissance the Tuscans did their best (and worst, as they proved contentious).

They were also parochial people, fragmented like it is in another 1000 small belligerent republics and mutually hostile. In the 1300 and 1400, thanks to the power of the Medici family and the splendours of the Renaissance, Florence (from Florentia, which means flourishing) and Tuscany in general gave birth to an elegant and refined society, rich in art, literature and patronage. Of course there were plots (Guelfi and Ghibellini), conspiracies (the Pazzi) and stakes (Savonarola), but that is because it was still the land of the Florentine Secretary, Nicolò Machiavelli. Yet those were the illuminated and creative years when Tuscany gave art and western culture a major contribution. Dante, Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli and Brunelleschi….

And Florence was the centre of this great revival of humanism. We mustn’t forget Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, and smaller towns like Cortona, Fiesole or San Gimignano – with its one hundred towers -, all true gems of architecture. The lords of these cities always felt their tower had to be slightly taller than that of their rivals – just like in New York.

From beaches of fine sand and pine woods, tiny coves and unspoiled islands, to austere villages and castles, in silent landscapes rich in natural beauty, history, art and culture, the Maremma is one of the favourite destinations on the Italian and international tourist route. Unspoiled countryside, artistic treasures and a rich wine and gastronomy tradition are just some of the attractions of this part of southern Tuscany that throughout the world is synonymous with peace and tranquillity.

Lovers of the slow pace and countryside of the Tuscan life style, will find that the Maremma also follows this philosophy of slowness: walk through small villages and towns, many dating back to Roman and Etruscan times, and see jewels of Medieval architecture; discover 40,000 hectares of natural reserves; follow footpaths or mountain biking; play golf in 5 beautiful golf courses, dive in the crystal clear waters of the Maremma coastline and islands. You can also savour traditional Maremman cooking, rich in ingredients both from the sea and from the hinterland, together with the Mediterranean extra virgin olive oil and renowned doc wines.
Learn for yourself just how good the Maremma can be for you and you need go no further!

If you are interested to put on you web site this video, please write this:

“video offered by APT MAREMMA”

For further information please contact:

A.P.T. MAREMMA
Official Tourism Board
Viale Monterosa 206 – 58100 Grosseto
Ph +39 0564 462611
Fax: +39 0564 454606
info@lamaremma.info
www.lamaremma.info