Grosseto

Grosseto is a 82,131 inhabitants city by Ombrone river located in Maremma, the coastal southern region of Tuscany that borders with Lazio, in the center of Italy. It's the capital city of the province of Grosseto and its most inhabited city, but it's also an important railway junction that connects Rome with the northern part of the country.

How do I arrive to Grosseto?

  Grosseto is an important city that connects Tuscany with Lazio, so there are many ways to arrive here. 

• Plane: although it has an airport, Grosseto Airport, it has no regular flights.
• Train: there are daily trains to Orbetello (aprox. 25 minutes), Piombino (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes), Livorno (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Siena (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes), Pisa (aprox. 1.5 hours) and to Civitavecchia (aprox. 1 hour) in Lazio.
• Bus: there are many buses from Grosseto to nearby cities like Siena or Florence. From Grosseto there are four daily buses to Massa Marittima (aprox. 1 hour 15 min), that is also connected to Siena (aprox. 2 hours).
• Car: if you rented a car from Grosseto it can be reached Castiglione della Pescaia (aprox. 30 minutes), Massa Marittima and Orbetello (aprox. 40 minutes), Montalcino (aprox. 50 minutes), Siena (aprox. 1 hour), San Gimignano (aprox. 1.5 hours) and a 1 hour 20 minutes journey to Pitigliano. Outside Tuscany, it's 1.5 hours far from Civitavecchia (Lazio).
  

History

 The city of Grosseto was founded during High Middle Ages, first mentioned in the year 803 as a fiefdom of the Counts Aldobrandeschi. Its rise coincided with the decline of Ruselle and Vetulonia (with the bishopric of the former transfered to Grosseto in 1138), becoming one of the main cities in Tuscany. In 1151 Grosseto swore loyalty to Siena and received podestà rights. Thereafter the future of Grosseto remained linked to Siena's one (despite Aldobrandeschi family trying to regain its control) till they regained its independence and fought together with the Florence army in the battle of Montaperti. In the following 80 years it was ravaged and excommunicated by Pope Clement IV, being submitted again to Siena. Pestilence of 1348 and the attacks by Alfonso V of Aragon and Jacopo Piccino made it suffer. In 1559 Charles V of Germany handed the whole duchy to Cosme I de Medici, who became the first Duchy of Tuscany. Since then it became a small town till it was given the title of capital city of Maremma province.
 

What can I visit in Grosseto?

The city has some nice places to walk and discover, although they aren't very interesting.

These are Grosseto's main attractions:

• Grosseto Cathedral (10-18 Mon-Fri, 9:30-18 Sat-Sun; free): 14th century duomo built by the architect that created the façade of Siena's one, Sozzo Rustichini. The interior has interesting sculptures, the richly decorated Gothic windows and the Madonna delle Grazie by Matteo di Giovanni; it's the most important monument of the city.  
• Grosseto City Walls: Medicean walls built under Francesco I de Medici in 1574  and designed by Baldasarre Lanci. Currently they are used as public park.
• Museum of Archeaology and Art of Maremma (10-19 Tue-Fri, 10-13 and 17-20 Sat-Sun from Jun to Sep; 9:30-13:30 Tue-Fri, 10-13 and 16-19 Sat-Sun from Oct to May; 5€/ 2.50€/ free  adults/retiree, students and kids under 18/kids under 6): small local museum with expositions the history of Maremma since Pre-history. It's also the museum of sacred art of the diocese of Grosseto.
• Museum of Natural History of Maremma (9-13 Tue-Fri, 9-13 and 17-20 Sat-Sun from Jun to Sep; 9-13 Tue-Fri, 9-13 and 16-20 Sat-Sun from Oct to May; 5€/ 3€/ free  adults/retiree, students and kids under 18/kids under 6): small local museum with expositions about the local fauna and flora.
• Aldobrandeschi Palace: former palazzo of Aldobrandeschi family during Middle Ages. It was rebuilt in the 20th century and now it houses the seat of the province of Grosseto.
• St. Francesco Church: 13th century Gothic church constructed of brick. Inside there's a large painted crucifix attributed to Duccio di Buoninsegna.
• St. Pietro Church: 12th century Romasque style small church that is the oldest in Grosseto.
• Outside Grosseto (10 km) you can reach Roselle (10:15-18:45 from Apr to Sep; 8:30-16:45 from Oct to Mar; 4€/ 2€/ free  adults/students/kids under 18), an Etruscan-Roman archeological site and former town of Etruria.
• On the outskirts of Grosseto it can be found the town of Alberese (1,176 inhabitants), located in Maremma Regional Park. This unknown but very interesting regional park that has a wide pine forest, swampy plains and more than 20 km of virgin beaches. There are 13 walking trails (between 2.5 km and 13 km), being the most popular A2 route (5.8 km), and bicycles and canoe routes. From Jun to Sep it can just be visited with guided tours (to prevent forest fires).

Palazzo Aldobrandeschi

Duomo di Grosseto

Old Spanish Windmill

Not far from Grosseto, 43 km south, can be found the interesting town of Orbetello (14,744 inhabitants) in the middle of the lagoon of Orbetello, a lagoon separated from the Tyrrhenian Sea by two tombolos (and Monte Argentario) that is now a WWF natural reserve. It was the capital of the State of the Presidi, a territory that from 1557 to 1801 belonged to the Spanish crown. One of the most impressing thing is the Old Spanish Windmill, a 15th century Sienese windmill that was reformed by the Spanish used to grind the grain brought by the traditional barchini, located in the middle of the lagoon. The town keeps its walls, Orbetello City Walls, first built by the Etruscans and reformed during the Middle Ages and by the Spaniards and it also has a cathedral, Orbetello Co-Cathedral (12-19 from Jun to Sep; 12-18 from Oct to May), a 16th century duomo built as a collegiate church by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, with a Neogothic bell tower, some interesting works of art and co-seat of the diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello. It can also be seen the Palazzo del Podestà, seat of the Spanish governor of the State of the Presidi. Not far from here it can be found, in Ansedonia, the Cosa Archaeological Site, ruins of a former Roman colony founded in 273 BC and that enjoys great views of the island of Giglio. Here it can be visited the National Museum of Archeology and the Ancient City of Cosa (10:15-18; 2€/ free  adults/ reduced), small museum tha houses the most important artefacts founded at the ruins and its harbour (like clay decorations, ceramics...) and explains the history of Cosa untill the 15th century. In the tombolo that connects Ansedonia and Monte Argentario there's a popular beach with dunes, Feniglia Beach.

Feniglia Beach

On the other side of the lagoon there's the peninsula Monte Argentario, a popular vacational destination for Italians. In the southern part of it there's Porto Ercole (2,810 inhabitants), a small town with a nice old town and place where the artist Caravaggio died (in the center of this village can be found Caravaggio's tomb). He is buried on Sant'Erasmo Church, Baroque church first built in the 14th century that is considered the oldest in town. The peninsula is full of fortresses built during Spanish times and one of these is Forte Stella (17-21 from Jul to Aug; 10:30-12:30 and 16-18 in Sep; 2€/ 1€  adults/ reduced), a small 16th century star-shaped fortress used as a watch-tower (its views are very impressing). Along the coast there's a panoramic road that goes on the outline of the peninsula and has awesome views of the sea and the Tuscan Archipelago. The most populated town in Monte Argentario is Porto Santo Stefano (8,810 inhabitants), in the north of the island. Here it can be visited another of the Spanish Fort (18:30-23:30 from Jul to Aug; 10:30-12:30 and 16-18 in Sep and Sat-Sun in Oct; 2€/ 1€  adults/ reduced) in Monte Argentario, built between the end of the 16th and the start of the 17th century. The town is also home of Argentario Aquarium (10:30-12:30 and 16:30-20 in Aug; 16-20 Mon-Fri, 10:30-12:30 and 16-20 Sat-Sun from Sep to Jul; 5€/ 2€  adults/ reduced), aquarium with 17 tanks focused on the Mediterranean Sea (it has only one tank outside the topic, the one on tropical seas). The town has 4 districts and they compete in Palio marinaro (similar to Siena's Palio), an annual 4000 m rowing regatta in August. The peninsula has a lot of small but nice beaches such as Cala Grande.

Where can I eat in Grosseto?

 Some ideas to eat in Grosseto are Al Posto Accanto (Via Carlo Goldini 11/13) or Artidoro (Via de Barberi 12/14).

Eating in Monte Argentario area isn't usually a good experience. Despite it, there are still some place where eating well such as Baretto (Lungomare Andrea Doria 39).

Posted in: Europe,Italy,Tuscany