20 Dec On holiday in Gavorrano
Some days of peace and quiet in the heart of Tuscna Maremma, between corners of wild and spectacular nature.
Gavorrano
The historic mining town of Gavorrano
Inhabited since Etruscan times, Gavorrano has known various dominions over the centuries, but earned its status as a center for mining at the end of the 19th century, when an important source of pyrite was discovered. The extraciton of this mineral, permitted significant development up until the 80s of the last century, when the mines were definitively closed.
The riches of its history and its natural beauty have allowed this small town set in the side of the Monte Calvo to reinvent itself as a renowned tourist location of Tuscan Maremma.
Holidays in Maremma at Gavorrano
This small village in Maremma is ready to welcome the visitor that is looking to spend several days enjoying peace and quiet. Long walks, without a hurry, discovering small churches such as the church of San Giuliano previously named after San Gusmè, whose construction dates back to between the 17th and 18th century.
If you love unpolluted nature, here you can walk freely through the oak and chestnut woods, where you can see boar, hares and deer.
The National Park of the Metal-rich Hills
From Gavorrano you can access one of the entrances to the Park of the Metal-rich Hills, a physical and symbolic entryway, to welcome and inform, to offer visitors various cultural services, among which guided tours, workshops, theatrical, musical and art events. The park is part of the international network of UNESCO preserves.
It’s possible to visit various areas of the park, like the Mining Museum in Galleria, an underground path to walk and experience the day of a miner. The Ravi-Marchi Mine is very interesting, with a path to discover the factories for the treatment of pyrite, the washing stations and wonderful castles spread throughout the area of the park.
The castle of Pietra and the history of the Pia dei Tolomei
Right outside the inhabited area there’s the ruins of the Castle of Pietra, sadly famous for the murder of Pia dei Tolomei of Sienna, wife of the Count Nello Pannocchieschi. It’s told that the poor woman was killed by her husband, thrown from the tower. The husband had gotten involved with another woman and desired to marry this new woman, belonging to the noble and powerful Aldobrandeschi family.
A story told by Dante in the fifth Canto of Purgatory. With these notable verses; “Remember me who art Pia: Siena made me, Maremma undid me”. To remember this event and the medieval past of this enchanting village, every year in august the roads of the area come alive for the historical reenactment with parades, games and fashion shows with medieval costumes.