Castiglione della Pescaia

Villages and Hamlets

Territory

 

The municipal territory extends from the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where it also includes the Islet of the Sparrowhawk and the Scogli Porchetti, up to the south-western and southern offshoots of the hill chain that from Poggio Ballone arrives at Poggio Petriccio and which forms the southern appendage of the Metalliferous Hills of Grosseto. Between the coast and the hilly area there is a large flat area of ​​the Grosseto Maremma, partially affected by a marshy area, totally included in the Diaccia Botrona nature reserve. The coast is mainly low and sandy, with the exception of the small promontory of Punta Capezzolo, which divides the town of Castiglione della Pescaia from the town of Riva del Sole, and for the entire area of ​​the promontory of Punta Ala, which have both coasts high and rocky.

The municipal territory borders to the north with the municipalities of Scarlino and Gavorrano, to the east and south-east with the municipality of Grosseto, while to the west and south it is bathed by the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The seaside resorts extend around sea level or slightly higher altitudes, while in the hinterland there are 184 meters above sea level. of Buriano, 335 meters above sea level of Vetulonia, while higher altitudes are recorded in the hamlet of Tirli and its surroundings.
History

History

The origins of the toponym date back to two distinct phases of the early medieval period. In the 8th century the name Castelione appeared in reference to the Paduline settlement located near the river bank, while in a document of 814 the area of ​​the oldest Roman settlement of the Paduline was called Piscaria a Mare. During the medieval period, however, the use of the toponym Castelione was prevalent even after the Pisan domination, while in later times the denomination Pescaja was also gradually introduced, combining it with the more recurrent one.

The area in which the municipal territory of Castiglione della Pescaia extends has brought to light some prehistoric remains of the upper Paleolithic, which were found in the western hilly area (Val Berretta) and on the eastern hilly offshoots between the Badiola farm, the locality of Ampio and the area south of the hamlet of Buriano.

The evidence of the greatest splendor of the Etruscan period has been found in the hamlet of Vetulonia, while other finds have come to light in the western part of the municipal territory between Val Beretta and Pian di Rocca, an area that was already inhabited in prehistoric times. The area where the town of Castiglione della Pescaia stands was instead an important Roman settlement, given the archaeological remains found on the right bank of the Bruna river near the port-canal and the modern town, among which the remains stand out of the Roman villa of Paduline. Furthermore, the presence of a consular road and a cobblestone road, the remains of which were lost in the course of the nineteenth century, which from the Roman town respectively headed towards the pine forest of Tombolo and towards Giuncarico, is ascertained.

After a period of neglect between the fifth and eighth century, there was a gradual rebirth of Castiglione della Pescaia, which took particular force during the tenth century thanks to the Republic of Pisa: in this period the primitive medieval village was built in the lower part, which was enclosed by the Pisan Walls. The Pisan dominion began in 962, although there was a discontinuity of power which, at the end of the same century, initially benefited the Aldobrandeschi, then the monks of the abbey of San Salvatore al Monte Amiata. In the twelfth century the castle settlement passed to the Lambardi family who controlled the hamlet of Buriano at the time, whose influence became significant in the thirteenth century. The center began a phase of prosperity until it became a free municipality in the thirteenth century. In 1274 the Pisans resumed the active exercise of power which lasted until the end of the 14th century, a period in which the free Municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia was established, which with an act of submission to Florence managed to ensure protection. During the following century the long phase of free Commune ended, following the conquest of the castle by the troops of King Alfonso V of Aragon; previously there was a temporary Sienese occupation during 1432. In 1449 the militias of the Principality of Piombino managed to liberate the entire village, with the exception of the castle which remained an Aragonese garrison. In 1460 the castle was sold to the Piccolomini family of Siena, who sold it almost a century later (1559) to the Medici, in whose grand duchy the remaining village had joined a few years earlier. The marquisate of Castiglione della Pescaja with the islands of Giglio and Giannutri was purchased by Cosimo I on 20 January 1559 for his wife Eleonora di Toledo from the Piccolomini d’Ara