GROSSETO
In Grosseto and surrounding towns, farmland gives way to fashionable streets. This is the cosmopolitan Maremma, of which Grosseto is the capital: where beaches attract wealthy personalities and nightlife flourishes after dark. But there is much more to see in this region than postcard landscapes. Its beaches, marshes and natural parks are so idyllic that they have inspired scores of artists, such as writer Italo Calvino and actress Sophia Loren. Grosseto and the surrounding villages are symbolic of 21st-century Maremma: a modern twist on country life. A taste for cultural activities makes the museums, theaters and art galleries in the area some of the best in the province. If the call of the wilderness is too strong to resist, a day trip to the wetlands of Maremma Park or Diaccia Botrona National Park is the perfect balm.
Grosseto is not very popular among Maremma residents, who say the provincial capital is too big, hot, chaotic and pompous. But comparing it with other cities, Grosseto is little more than a large town. Its streets are slightly more crowded than the rest of the Maremma, but they have real personality. Residents insist that the town was created by the Americans, who first bombed Grosseto during World War II, and then rebuilt it. This shortened version of history is the result of the city’s effort to forget its distant, malaria-plagued past.
Grosseto began to be haunted in 1371 when it was still a small but vibrant agricultural center. By the mid-19th century, its population numbered just 3,000. Even after the land reclamation of 1870, people were reluctant to believe that malaria was gone forever.
Today, with its 1960s charm and its “miniature Sienese glory,” as Victorian-era traveler George Dennis wrote, Grosseto is a city born to new life. To explore it properly, you have to get off the main street and get lost in the chaotic streets with kitschy stores and typical restaurants.
Visit Grosseto’s most famous museums and venture to the deserted beaches and oak forests of the spectacular Maremma Park.
WALLS
PROVINCE PALACE
CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO
CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS
DANTE SQUARE
MAREMMA PARK
MUSEUM OF SACRED ART
BEACHES
EVENTS
Festambiente
August
This week-long ecological festival takes place in Rispescia, a large open construction site at the foot of the Maremma Park.
The festival includes free yoga and shiatsu classes, canoeing and outdoor hiking, organic food and produce stalls, political debates, and concerts by some of Italy’s best rock bands. Throughout the week, up to 50 films battle it out to win the annual Chlorophyll Film Festival.
Oil Festival-Batignano
November
Live music,oil, wine and local product tastings, a mountain bike race, craft stalls, children’s activities and more!
