Attractions

· Trekking by foot, on horse or mountain biking – an extensive trail of paths is easily accessible from the villa through the extensive natural park in which the villa is located. The area is also popular with cyclists because of the clean air.

· Super Tuscan wines – just over 6km away are some of Italy’s most famous wine makers. A visit to the town of Bolgheri, and a fascinating tour can be arranged to find out more about Sassicaia and the other Super Tuscan wines made here. The villa lies on the wine route between Bolgheri and the Val di Cornia.

· The Island of Elba – just over 30 minutes away regular ferries leave the port of Piombino for the lovely island of Elba, an easy day trip from the villa. For an extra special day, a private boat can be arranged, or a yacht hired if you are a keen sailor.

· Gambero Rosso – one of Italy’s best restaurants is located close by in the seaside resort of San Vicenzo. But if you do not want to pay Gambero Rosso prices, you will find other excellent restaurants serving both sea food and traidtional Tuscan meat dishes.

· Beaches – the Tuscan coastline below Sassetta boasts sandy beaches, such as that at Baratta which sits in a protected cove.

· Cultural attractions – close by it is possible to visit the Etruscan remains below Alta Populonia, and several of the pretty hill top towns such as Suvereto. Within an hour you can reach the lovely hill top towns of Volterra and San Gimignano. Day trips can also be made to Siena, Pisa and of course Florence.

Sassetta is a charming little historical village on the Costa degli Etruschi, set among woods and stands of chestnuts on a hilltop overlooking the sea. This Medieval stronghold still contains reminders of its past. such as the Romanesque baptismal font, a 15th-century paint­ing of the Virgin. a rock crystal crucifix (1 5ih-1 6th century) and other paintings which are to be found in the ancient church of St Andrew Apostle. The woods are full of hiking trails and paths for walks. cycling and horseback riding. and numerous agricultural holdings offering holiday accommodation and local produce can be found here too. In Sassetta, old traditions hand­ed down through the years are kept alive with colourful.

Suvereto The town is o splendid medieval village whose origins date back to before the year 1000. Situated on the slopes of the hills overlooking the Costa degli Etruschi it is a true jewel. rich in history and art, set in the green valley of the River Cornia. The town displays an enchanting architectural harmony and its ancient walls enclose paved streets lined with stone houses. historical buildings. impressive churches. and shadowy cloisters Thick cork. chestnut and oak woods. and Mediterranean scrub grow down to the sea. The Wine Route winds its way through countryside rich with grapevines and centuries-old olive trees. The region is swarming with agricultural enter­prises. oil mills. wineries, and farm-holiday resorts where you can try local products and traditional dishes. The town keeps its antique traditions alive through magical festivals inspired by history and folklore that are held throughout the year. thanks to the mild climate

What is at present Castagneto Carducci used to be called Castagneto della Gherardesca, from the name of the family, Lombard in origin, of which it was the fief. The della Gherardesca family are today the oldest Italian family, and the castle at Castagneto - still inhabited today by the family's descendants - dates back to the year one thousand. Since the end of the 12th century Castagneto had been under the polidcal jurisdiction of Pisa; but in 1406, the della Gherardesca counts put themselves under the protection of the Florentine Republic. The government of Florence elected the della Gherardesca's as its deputies in the castles of Casale, Bibbona, Bolgheri, Donoratico, Castagneto and other lesser castles, while it left them absolute lords of their own possessions in the Maremma, imposing on them only the obligation to send soldiers to Florence in case of war. These privileges were maintained by the della Gherardesca family until 1749, when the grand-ducal fiefs were abolished. The present-day name of Castagneto Carducci was given to the ancientfief in 1907, in honour of the poet Giosue Garducci who stayed there as an adolescent and who always remained bound to it. For this reason, the citizenry decided to change the name that it had at that time, Castagneto Marittimo, to that of Castagneto Garducci.Immortalised in Giosuè Carducci’s poem "Before San Guido", "I cipressi che a Bolgheri alti e schietti van da San Guido in duplice filar..." (The cypresses of Bolgheri, tall and straight, march from San Guido in a double line…) this ancient village has a fascination all of its own.

A stone’s throw from the sea and surrounded by countryside where vines and olive trees thrive, this little town with its unspoilt architectural harmony is dominated by the red brick castle which guards the entrance to the village of narrow paved streets and old stone houses bright with geraniums. Spectacular sunsets and darting swallows enliven the skies. Craft shops, wine shops and taverns offer traditional, local products.

The churches, the poet Giosuè Carducci’s childhood home and San Guido’s oratory are fascinating to visit, while the surrounding countryside with its holiday and horse-breeding farms is the ideal place for walking, cycling or horse riding.

The territory in which Campiglia Marittima rises was intensely inhabited by the Etruscans, who set up some of their forges here. In the Thirties, the first kilns were discovered in which the Etruscans worked the metals in which the subsoil of the surrounding mountains abounds: copper, hn, iron and even silver and zinc. The Romans did not know how to exploit these riches as the Etruscans had done, and the zone underwent a strong decline. The inhabitants abandoned the villages, and the countryside was no longer cultivated. Nevertheless, numerous findings of the Roman epoch, among which a great quantity of coins of the era of Caesar Augustus, lead us to believe that the hills around Campiglia were inhabited by several illustrious families attracted by the beauty of the places and by the favourable climate. The Lombard epoch involved a further depopulation of the territory, which began its rebirth only around the year one thousand. From a document of 1004 we 1;now that Campiglia was a castle belonging to the della Gherardesca family, and the fief must have developed rapidly, if in 1138 it gave hospitality to Pope Innocent II on his return from the Council of Pisa. However much the counts of the della Gherardesca family exercised a feudal dominion over Campiglia as over other villages in the Maremma, already in the 13th century the castle depended on the Republic of Pisa, which established a magistrate, a judge and a notary there. In 1406 Pisa signed the treaty of its first surrender to Florence, and Campiglia was one of the castles made over to the Florentine Republic. Despite several attempts at revolt, Campiglia yielded to the new dominion, which at least guaranteed itfrom attempts at assault on the part of foreign troops. In 1447 and 1448, in fact, the king of Naples, Alphonse of Aragon, tried twice to take possession of the castle and the village; but the defence of the inhabitants of Campiglia and of the Florentine army was strenuous, and the castle did notfall into enemy hands. The subsequent history of Campiglia was no longer studded with wars, but with terrible plagues that decimated the population and transformed what at one time had been a thriving stronghold in the south of the Grand Duchy into a village surrounded with deserted districts in which malaria mowed down its victims. Campiglia's modern history began with the important reclaimings of Maremma lands, which finally made the villages inhabitable once more.

The section of the Leghorn coast where San Vincenzo is found today had been inhabited since the early Palaeolithic era, but it was with the arrival of the Etruscans that the area knew a remarkable civilisation. In fact, San Vincenzo is in the vicinity of the promontory of Populonia, the seat of a powerful Etruscan temtory ruled by a lucomon. The presence of metals within the territory of San Vincenzo' and particularly on the slopes of Mount Calvi, meant that the Etruscans developed here a considerable activity of extraction and fusion, numerous traces of which have been discovered. Once the Romans conquered the Etruscans, the Aurelian Way passed by San Vincenzo, and although there is no certain information, it seems that a village and a landing stage were founded on the spot. Instead, it is definite that in the 9th century in the locality of San Vincentium there used to exist a small shelter for pilgrims, probably at the origin of the founding of a church, information of which we have starting in the 13th century. In 1304 the Pisans had a watch tower erected with a fortress which, two centuries later, in 1505, was the scene of the epilogue to Pisa's attempted revolt against Florence. Right under the tower of San Vincenzo, in fact, the battle tool: place between the Florentine army and that of the condottiere Bartolomeo d'Alviano, who was leading his troops to the aid of Pisa that was under siege. The battle was then immortalised by Giorgio Vasari in one of the frescoes in the "Salone dei Cinquccento" of Palazzo della Signoria in Florence. In successive centuries, San Vincenzo followed the fortunes of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.