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Southwest of Florence and
Chianti lies a vast golden sea of wheat called Maremma. Drive
through these waves of grain and you'll see cowboys in fedoras
riding big sturdy maremmano horses herding long-horned maremmano
bulls. Drive east and you'll reach Castel del Piano, center of a
dozen well-preserved medieval towns where the Epiphany, a costumed
outdoor pageant heralding the arrival of the Three Kings, is still
performed by townspeople on the evening of January 5th. North of
here is the capital city, Grosseto, a beautifully restored 16th-century
walled town that was greatly enhanced by Medici family patronage.
Farther inland are the warm sulphurous waters of Saturnia, which
legend claims as the first town ever built in Italy (by no less
illustrious a founder than the mother of Saturn). Etruscan tombs
abound in this area, centered in the woods around the semi-derelict
town of Sovana. Also well worth visiting are Massa Marittima,
Follonica, Magliano (and the nearby ruins of the romanesque
monastery of San Bruzio), the seaside village of Capalbio and the
Etruscan ruins of Vetulonia. |
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