Massa Marittima
Encyclopedia
Massa Marittima is a town and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

of the province of Grosseto
Province of Grosseto
The Province of Grosseto is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Grosseto.-Geography:It has an area of 4,504 km², and a total population of 227.498...

, southern Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, 49 km NNW of Grosseto
Grosseto
Grosseto is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies 14 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain, on the Ombrone river....

.

There are mineral spring
Mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water containing minerals, or other dissolved substances, that alter its taste or give it a purported therapeutic value...

s, mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

s of iron, mercury, lignite and copper, with foundries, ironworks and olive-oil mills. At Follonica
Follonica
Follonica is a town and comune of province of Grosseto in the Italian region of Tuscany, on the Gulf of Follonica , about 40 km NW of the city of Grosseto.-History:...

, on the coast, are the furnaces in which are smelted the iron ore of Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...

.

History

The town appeared in the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, the bishopric seat of Populonia
Populonia
Populonia or Populonia Alta today is a frazione of the comune of Piombino . As of 2009 its population was 17...

 being moved here around 1000 AD. After the initial domination of the Republic of Pisa
Republic of Pisa
The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...

, it became an independent commune in the 13th century.

In the following century it was conquered by Siena
Republic of Siena
The Republic of Siena , was a state originating from the city of Siena in Tuscany, Central Italy.It existed for over four hundreds years, from the late 11th century until the year 1555, when was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown...

, to which it belonged until it became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...

 in the mid-16th century.

Main sights

  • The 13th century cathedral
    Massa Marittima Cathedral
    thumb|260px|View of the cathedralthumb|260px|The main portalMassa Marittima Cathedral , dedicated to Saint Cerbonius , is the principal church of Massa Marittima, Tuscany, Italy, and the seat of the Diocese of Massa Marittima.-Architecture:...

     (13th century). The church is in Romanesque
    Romanesque architecture
    Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

    -Pisane style, and is on the Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles divided by cruciform pilasters and cylindrical columns. The central portal has lion sculptures and five panels with stories of Saint Cerbonius, to whom the cathedral is dedicated. The rose window
    Rose window
    A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

     has a rare 14th century glass with the Redeemer in Glory and Histories of St. Cerbonius. The interior is home to a Romanesque font (1267 with a cover of 1447), a Gothic reliquary (1324) of Saint Cerbonius, a Maestà
    Maestà
    Maestà, the Italian word for "majesty", designates an iconic formula of the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, whether or not accompanied with angels and saints...

    attributed to Duccio di Buoninsegna (1316) and 14th century fresco under which is a Roman sarcophagus from the 4th century AD.
  • The battlemented Palazzo Pretorio. It houses the Archaeological Museum, containing a work by Ambrogio Lorenzetti
    Ambrogio Lorenzetti
    Ambrogio Lorenzetti was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active between approximately 1317 to 1348. His elder brother was the painter Pietro Lorenzetti....

    .
  • The Cassero Senese (Sienese Fortress), built in the 13th–14th centuries.
  • Monteregio Castle, built by the Aldobrandeschi in the 9th century, later used as the bishops' residence.
  • Church of St. Francis, founded, according to the tradition, by the saint himself in Gothic style. It houses an Assumption by Raffaello Vanni
    Raffaello Vanni
    Raffaello Vanni was an Italian painter of the Baroque.He was born at Siena. He first trained with his father, Francesco Vanni, who died in 1603. He was afterwards sent to Rome, and recommended to the care of Antonio Carracci. He became a follower of the style of Pietro da Cortona. He painted a ...

    .
  • Church of St. Augustine (14th century), with a Renaissance cloister.
  • Palazzo del Podestà.
  • Palazzo delle Armi, in Renaissance style.
  • Church of San Rocco (15th century).
  • Native house of San Bernardino da Siena.


In the frazione
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

of Prata are a medieval castle with two towers and the Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta. The walled borough ot Tatti includes the medieval church of San Sebastiano and another Cassero.

External links




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