Villages

We are at the seaside in Castiglione della Pescaia, but we decide to spend a day hunting for history. Our destination is the nearby medieval village of Vetulonia. This small inhabited center was known until the end of the nineteenth century by the name of Colonna or Colonna di Buriano, before Isidoro Falchi’s excavations no one knew where ancient Vetulonia ...

An ancient Romanesque rectory in good condition is that of San Michele in Rencine. Its origin is lost in the mists of time, perhaps it was built in the eighth century. The current church has a rectangular plan, the facade is particular and of great value and represents the oldest part of the church. Next to it is the Chapel ...

Uzzano is a characteristic village 3 km from Pescia in the province of Pistoia. To reach it from Pescia, take the road near the Church of San Francesco which climbs towards the hill on the left side of the Pescia river valley. The foundation of Uzzano took place in medieval times when a castle was built by a noble family ...

The famous seaside resort of Castiglione della Pescaia is dominated above all by an imposing medieval castle which encloses the historic center of the town with its walls. The castle of Castiglione della Pescaia was built around a tower built by the Pisans in the 10th century to which, later, sections of the wall were added which join it to ...

Buggiano Castello, located on a small hill, is the historic nucleus of the municipality of Buggiano, where there was a castle since the Middle Ages. Further down, another village was formed over time, today Borgo a Buggiano, home to the livestock market. The castle, strategically very important, was disputed between the republics of Florence and Lucca during the 13th and ...

Roccastrada is located in a beautiful position overlooking the Maremma, at an altitude of 475 meters in the Grosseto Metalliferous Hills. The town is located in a panoramic position towards Monte Amiata and the plain of the Ombrone and its tributaries. Roccastrada was since the Middle Ages an important mining center where there were copper and silver mines. AN ANCIENT ...

Roccalbegna is a picturesque village located at the confluence of two rivers, the Marlancione and the Albegna, the town is dominated by high overhanging cliffs. Roccalbegna is located at an altitude of 522 metres. The buildings of Roccalbegna are almost all in stone. Among the monuments of interest is the Romanesque parish church of Saints Peter and Paul from the ...

Manciano is located in the center of an area of great archaeological importance, about 60 km from Grosseto, 18 km south-west of Pitigliano and 40 km north-east of Orbetello. The town, located on the top of a hill at an altitude of 444 metres, is dominated by the Rocca Aldobrandesca, today the seat of the municipality. The village of Manciano ...

A few kilometers from Grosseto is the medieval village of Paganico, located along the Ombrone plain at 63 meters above sea level. In the Middle Ages Paganico was a small center under the control of the Aldobrandeschi, which in the XIII century became part of the possessions of the Republic of Siena. Siena decided in 1262 to erect it as ...

The medieval village of Capalbio is located in the extreme south of Tuscany, 219 meters above sea level, a short distance from the Via Aurelia and the sea. Capalbio is mentioned for the first time in a document dated 805 in which Charlemagne donated Capalbio to the Tre Fontane Abbey in Rome. The name Capalbio seems to derive from “caput ...

Castelnuovo dell’Abate is a small settlement located about 389 meters above sea level in the municipality of Montalcino, in the Val d’Orcia. This village retains its medieval aspect intact. The town dominates the famous abbey of Sant’Antimo from the top of a hill and is immersed in a beautiful countryside with hills covered with olive trees, vines and cypresses. The ...

The origin of Magliano in Toscana is Etruscan (Heba), later it became a Roman municipality maintaining the Etruscan name of Heba. In a pact stipulated by Uguccione of the Aldobrandeschi counts in the year 1097, Magliano is mentioned for the first time, indicated as the center of a court, perhaps already the seat of a castle. THE WALLS Magliano in ...

Monticchiello is a small medieval town located halfway between Pienza and Montepulciano along a secondary road that joins the two locations. The town which is located at an altitude of 546 meters is still today partly surrounded by the ancient walls of the XIII century. The small village of Monticchiello is immersed in the beautiful hilly landscape of the Val ...

The town of Castelfiorentino is located in the southern part of the Florentine province. Castelfiorentino extends on a hill along the Via Francigena on the ruins of a Roman settlement and is made up of an ancient part and a modern part. The municipal territory is crossed by the river Elsa which flows downstream from the historic center located on ...

Montaione is a town located on a hill at an altitude of 342 meters overlooking the Val d’Elsa, in an important archaeological area as many finds of Etruscan and Roman origin have been found. The municipality has about 3,700 inhabitants and preserves the remains of walls, towers and a postern dating back to the medieval period when Montaione was an ...

The walled village of Malmantile is located on a hill southwest of Lastra a Signa about 20 km from Florence. This is an interesting excursion from Lastra a Signa, the village was in the Middle Ages, together with the walled villages of Lastra a Signa and Signa, one of the three defensive bastions of the city of Florence against Pisa. ...

Lastra a Signa is located 15 km from Florence, its name was originally “Lastra a Gualandi”, which derives from the name of the noble Gualandi family. The name Lastra derives from the stone (slab) that was found in quarries near the city. The village has medieval origins, as a rest station on the road between Florence and Pisa, since the ...

This town is an interesting stage between Pisa and Lucca. Vicopisano is a beautiful fortified village located at the foot of Monte Pisano (Monte Serra) about 20 km from Pisa and 30 km from Lucca. HISTORY Vicopisano is mentioned in historical documents starting from the 10th century when it was called Vici Auseris Sala and then Vico Auserissola. Initially the ...

The small semi-abandoned village of Linari is located in a beautiful position on a hillock 225 meters above sea level overlooking the river Elsa. It is a small fortified village of which some interesting medieval evidence remains. The first historical evidence of this castle dates back to the 11th century. Linari had importance since its foundation due to its strategic ...

Montemassi is a charming medieval village in the Grosseto Maremma, located in the municipality of Roccastrada along the road that connects Roccastrada to Massa Marittima and Gavorrano, about 15 km from the Giuncarico exit of the Aurelia. The village is located on the slopes of a hill full of olive trees, at an altitude of 280 metres. AN IMPRESSIVE MEDIEVAL ...

Massa Marittima is a stupendous town full of interesting medieval artistic testimonies. Probably of Etruscan origin, the city preserves many monuments from its most flourishing period, which can be traced back to the mid-9th century when the bishop, up until then resident in Populonia, took office there. The period of maximum splendor of the city is however that between the ...

Pitigliano is located in the extreme south of Tuscany on the border with Lazio. It is about 75 km from Grosseto (the shortest route is the one that passes through Istia d’Ombrone, Scansano and Manciano) and about 110 km from Siena (along the Via Cassia, you pass through Monteroni d’Arbia, Buonconvento, San Quirico d ‘Orcia, at Ponte a Rigo, turn ...

Tavarnelle Val di Pesa is a town located about 378 meters above sea level in the Chianti hills in the province of Florence, which is about 32 km away. Tavarnelle was born in the Middle Ages as a post station along the Via Regia Romana which led from Florence towards the Via Francigena and the Val d’Elsa, its ancient name ...

San Casciano in Val di Pesa is a town located at an altitude of 310 metres, in the Chianti hills in the province of Florence, which is about 22 km away. San Casciano was already a post station in Roman times. Subsequently, in the Middle Ages, the town developed at the meeting point between the Strada Regia Romana and an ...

Impruneta is a beautiful town located at the beginning of the Chianti hills in the province of Florence, which is about 17 km away. Already in Etruscan times, the sixth century BC, where Impruneta is today there was a place of worship. AN IMPORTANT SANCTUARY But the history of the town itself dates back to the Middle Ages (11th century), ...