Castellina Marittima is an ideal place if you want to immerse yourself in the rich Mediterranean scrub that envelops the entire village, nestled among the rocks.
It was chosen and built, for this reason, by the Etruscans for its strategic position; Castellina is also known as the city of Alabaster.
From Castellina you can see the islands of the Tuscan archipelago: Elba, Capraia, Gorgona and also Corsica. But it is to the earth, or rather to the rock, that Castellina is deeply linked.
Precisely thanks to its conformation of the land, the Etruscans and subsequently the Romans made it a primary element of the economy; There are still few active quarries but the historical memory of the work of those who allowed the creation of objects of great value is preserved in the local Alabaster Museum.
Alabaster is a stone which, when worked, is very shiny and used to create valuable objects, including decorative objects, both architectural and sculptural.
Alabaster is formed thanks to a particular crystallization of gypsum and Castellina alabaster in particular has an exceptional quality due to the fact that these lands were submerged by the sea in ancient times; In fact, the calcium sulphate present in sea waters would have allowed a particular stratification of the soil.
In this area, approximately sixty million years ago, there was a period of the geological era in which the uplift of the Alps occurred and it is precisely in this period of time that alabaster was formed.
To protect this portion of culture, the Alabaster Ecomuseum was created, located in the province of Pisa, it is an area of the municipalities of Castellina Marittima, Santa Luce and Volterra.
2 routes have been created: the first dedicated to excavation and the second to processing.
In Castellina there is the Central Museum Point dedicated to excavation and with an itinerary, along the Marmolaio stream, you arrive at the extraction sites with the ancient quarries called “le Venelle“.
Castellina is located just 20 minutes from the beaches of Vada or “Caletta” in Castiglioncello, 1 hour from Pisa airport, 1 hour from Forte dei Marmi and 50 minutes from Volterra.
A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE MAREMMA
We are in the upper Maremma or Maremma Pisana, an area between the coast of Pisa and Livorno and continuing inland, you reach the first reliefs of the Val di Cecina, the Val di Cornia and the Colline Metallifere.
Maremma is a place that still maintains an almost uncontaminated nature and landscape, both on a historical and cultural level. An area that has gone through many phases of reclamation, having in the past been a large swamp.
The region that goes from Cecina to Viterbo, once called Corneto, was cited by Dante, as a comparison to an expanse of Hell, in the Divine Comedy, as at the time Corneto was a wild and inhospitable land.
As we well know, Maremma was the cradle of the Etruscan civilization which has left many signs to this day and was later occupied by the Romans.
It was a fertile and glorious land in both Etruscan and Roman times, also remembered for the flourishing production of wheat; this was until the early Middle Ages, when the tomboli were built, i.e. sandy cords that formed stagnant river water.
In this way swamps with stagnant water were formed resulting in an unhealthy environment which caused the depopulation of the entire area.
In fact, the Maremma had become an unhealthy and uninhabitable swamp, in which malaria proliferated and the resulting disease caused many victims; in addition, throughout the 18th century there were enormous invasions of locusts which destroyed the few crops present.
In 1828, thanks to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopoldo, he ordered the reclamation of the Maremma at state expense and other important interventions were carried out in the fascist era and in the post-war period.
WHY BUY IN THE ALTA MAREMMA
Today the Maremma is an almost uncontaminated place, there are many woods and greenery, cared for but left free from urban planning interventions.
The climate of the area is typical Mediterranean: mild and sunny, thanks also to the sea and the constant ventilation that comes from it.
The territory is excellent in the production of prestigious wines, especially in the Bolgheri area (but not only) which, benefiting from that particular terroir, reach a high level of quality. Another DOC wine from Alta Maremma is that of Montescudaio.
Bolgheri is located in the municipality of Castagneto Carducci, a location made known by the poet Giosuè Carducci for the famous poem “Davanti a San Guido” and for the fascinating and very long Viale dei Cipressi.
Still regarding wine production, the area is famous for the renowned estate where the Marquises Incisa della Rocchetta produce Sassicaia, one of the best wines on the Italian and world scene.
Another beautiful village is Suvereto which is located in a hilly area of the Val di Cornia. Its name is ancient and means “cork forest”, a plant of which the area was once rich.
The town maintains its medieval structure with a dense network of narrow streets, dominated by the Rocca Aldobrandesca, a tower dating back to the 12th century.
In Val di Cecina we find Montescudaio, a small village surrounded by nature, dominated by a medieval castle originally owned by the Della Gherardesca family. The municipality has been defined among “The most beautiful villages in Italy” by the association of the same name.
We cannot forget the coast of Alta Maremma and remember the wonderful cliffs of Calafuria, Quercianella and the famous ones of Castiglioncello. The entire coast of Cecina and the Etruscan Coast, before arriving in Piombino, are beaches and cliffs that will take your breath away.
Buying a property in this part of Tuscany is a choice to experience nature, history and culture at the same time and be in one of the most admired places in the world.
