HISTORY AND CULTURE OF MAREMMA
Kings, nobles, dictators and even the legendary Medici have shaped this region, leaving behind not only castles and walls, but also a heritage that has been beautifully preserved by generations of Maremmani.
When Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, there was no place like Maremma. For him and other 14th century poets the beautiful countryside was called Corneto. Forever immortalized by Dante in this quote:
Dante's thoughts
Dante Alighieri (Hell XIII, 7)
“They have neither such harsh nor such thick brushwood
those wild beasts that they hate
between Cecina and Corneto the cultured places.
Here the ugly Harpies make their nests,
than to drive the Trojans out of the Strophades
with sad announcement of future harm.”
Which in English, can be roughly translated as:
“Such tangled thickets have not, nor so dense,
Those savage wild beasts, that in hatred hold
‘Twixt Cecina and Corneto the tilled places.
There do the hideous Harpies make their nests,
Who chased the Trojans from the Strophades,
With sad announcement of impending doom; “
Okay, maybe not the prettiest of quotes, but you need to give Dante a break. The Maremma he knew was rather uncivilized. What are now pastures dotted with sunflowers were then salt marshes. The only things that managed to scrape some existence out of the area were the sick lepers and no wealthy Florentine, writer or otherwise, would have anything to do with them. The landscape was wild and eerie, as were the people.
The beginning
But, to take a step back in history, the Maremma has not always been a cesspool. Before it was given clear boundaries, before it was lost to disease, the province was one of the proudest and most magnificent corners of the Roman Empire in Tuscany. It represented everything that made the Roman Empire great, except that not everything was built by Roman hands. The first evidence of this undefined province dates back to the Bronze Age. Archaeologists have found early settlements and necropolises across the countryside built in the 3rd century BC. Many of these have been lost, but it is still possible to admire the remains of this era in the museums of Grosseto.
MUSEUMS
VULCI
ROSELLE
The Etruscans
But the true golden age of the Maremma is due to the calm and industrious Etruscans. Etruria covers much of modern Maremma and was a beautiful empire that financed its existence through the extraction and sale of metals and gold to the rest of the pre-Roman world. Archaeologists believe the Etruscans were incredibly cultured, loved music and dance, had a frighteningly modern system of government, and shared their knowledge with the Greeks.
Unfortunately, they weren’t the best soldiers, so when the Romans came to take their land, the Etruscans were wiped out. The Romans wanted Maremma for its minerals, its thermal springs and access to the sea. Throughout the Maremma it is still possible to visit the Etruscan cities. The two best are Vulci and Roselle and both are open to intrepid tourists all year round.
After Rome
From the glory of Rome, the Maremma sank into one era after another of fear, religious fanatics and war. The two brilliant figures of the Middle Ages were the Aldobrandeschi and Orsini families. Both incredibly noble and sometimes brazen, they divided almost all of the Maremma between them from the 10th to the 15th century. They built the fortresses that today dominate almost every modern Maremma city.
But their dominion could not last forever and the Spanish and Sienese Republics tore the province apart. The Maremmani hated their foreign rulers, but had to put up with them for almost 300 years. By then the province had been almost completely abandoned. Large swamps and coastal marshes covered the fertile lands, undammed rivers flooded the woods and Mediterranean vegetation. Malaria killed everyone, including Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Lorraine, the Medici who liberated the Maremma from foreign invaders.
Modern Maremma
As I sit here and write this story, it seems a little cumbersome and dry, but one must understand that it is this story that defines the modern Maremma. The province itself was only united in the 18th century together with the Italian Republic. Its inhabitants may no longer remember the time when Maremma was separate, but those dividing lines are still part of their lives.
The locals here might call themselves Maremmani, but what they really mean is that they are Mancianesi, Pitiglianesi, Grossetani. They have their own stories, their traditions, their cuisine and sometimes their own dialect. When I arrived in Maremma for the first time, I fell in love with this independence and assertiveness. No matter how small the city is, there is always something that makes it stand out from even its closest neighbors.
For the tourist, each Maremma city is like a world in itself. Centuries of history and a contagious heritage just waiting to be discovered city after city.
