Castell’Azzara, the last east border of Maremma Tuscany

The extreme eastern boarder of Maremma Tuscany is the municipality with the highest altitude of the entire province of Grosseto, 815 metres above sea level.
The old town centre was built between the XI and the XII centuries under the Aldobrandeschi family domain. The name “Castell’Azzara” was decided by the three brothers, after they competed for the fortress construction playing dice. That’s why the municipality coat of arms represents three towers with dice on top.
 

Castell’Azzara was known since Etruscan times because of its cinnabar mines and was at its peak during the first half of 900, thanks to the mercury mining that attracted thousands of miners.
The village have been inexorabily depopulating since the seventies, when mines closed down, and today counts only about 1500 inhabitants that are known in the territory with the nickname Orsi (bears), because they live on the top of a mountain out of the touristic and commercial routes.
Castell’Azzara is a natural terrace from where the visitor will enjoy a stunning view and lost his gaze among the Val D’Orcia, the lake Bolsena and the Viterbo area; looking eastward the skyline is occupied by the wonderful Gran Sasso chain, while westwards stretches the Maremma, you can see until the Argentario and even catch sight of the Elba Island and the Corsica during bright days.
The particular soil composition donates an underground route made of cave (the Sassocolato Cave in particular is very interesting because of the various Chiroptera (bats) species presence) and caverns you can visit contacting the tourist information office.
History enthusiasts will enjoy visiting the medieval fortresses and the Villa Sforzesca, one late sixteenth-century residence of the Sforza family that today holds exhibitions and events. Food lovers will be delighted by tasting local truffles, thanks to the Amiata truffle hunters Association, and traditional recipes from tortelli to acquacotta, to the boar buglione and the typical Castell’Azzara cakes as the topi and the taglioli. Cheese gourmands will enjoy two local family-run dairies with a shop inside that ends the production chain: from the grazing, to the processing and selling of genuine sheep milk in all its shapes as the gioncata, ravaggiolo, caciotta, ricotta and pecorino cheese in different aging. Both adults and children will have the opportunity to enjoy the cheese making at teaching farms; maybe they will also find the shepherd-poet of the village telling farmers stories, rhymes and Tuscan legends. And, why not, enjoy a delicious meal at the cosy restaurant in the old town centre or at the agritourisms of the territory.

I could tell you much more about this magical place and its locals that have so many stories to tell, stories made by life in mines but also by a deep connection to nature. Fragments of souls and places I invite you to discover to enjoy them with the sight, to smell and savour them, to understand how a woman from Milan could have fallen in love with a place unknown to many.
 
Article by Katia Tarricone
Tarnslation by Gemma Bancalà