Abbadia San Salvatore

Abbey of Sant'Antimo

Albarese

Acquapendente


anghiari

Archipelago Toscano


Arcidosso


Arezzo


Asciano


Badia di Coltibuono


Bagni San Filippo

Bagno Vignoni

Barberino Val d'Elsa

Beaches

Bolsena Lake


Bomarzo

Brunello di Montalcino

Buonconvento

Campagnatico


Capalbio


Castel del Piano


Castelfiorentino

Castell'Azzara

Castellina in Chianti


Castelmuzio


Castelnuovo Bererdenga


Castiglioncello Bandini


Castiglione della Pescaia


Castiglione d'Orcia


Castiglion Fiorentino


Celleno


Certaldo


Chinaciano Terme


Chianti


Chiusi


Cinigiano


Città di Castello

CivitÀ di Bagnoregio


Colle Val d'Elsa


Cortona


Crete Senesi


Diaccia Botrona

Isola d'Elba

Firenze


Follonica


Gaiole in Chianti


Gavorrano

Gerfalco


Greve in Chianti


Grosseto


Lago Trasimeno


La Foce


Manciano


Maremma


Massa Marittima


Montagnola Senese


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Monte Amiata


Monte Argentario

montecalvello

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Montemassi


Montemerano


Monte Oliveto Maggiore


Montepulciano


Monteriggioni


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Monticiano


Orbetello


Orvieto


Paganico


Parco Naturale della Maremma


Perugia


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Pisa


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Prato

Radda in Chianti


Roccalbegna


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San Bruzio


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San Galgano


San Gimignano


San Giovanni d'Asso


San Quirico d'Orcia


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Umbria


Val d'Elsa


Val di Merse


Val d'Orcia


Valle d'Ombrone


Vetulonia


Viterbo

Volterra




 
Walking in Tuscany
             
 
View of Orbetello, from Monte Argentario, Tuscany, Italy
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Orbetello

album Surroundings
       
   


Orbetello

   
   

The peninsula Monte Argentario is connected with the mainland by three dams which form two lagoons, the Laguna di Ponente on the west side and the Laguna di Levante on the east side of the middle dam. Orbetello is located on the middle dam between the two lagoons. Orbetello was already inhabited in the Etruscan period and was later dominated by the Roman Empire. In the past, its favorable geographic position made it an attractive conquest, not only by noble Italian families, but also by foreign states. Orbetello was a possession of the Aldobrandeschi, Orsini, King Ladislas of Naples and Siena, until Spain acquired it in the late 16th century. The Spaniards heavily fortified the two ports, as the main stronghold of the State of Presidi. The town still has the bastions which the Spaniards built during the period (1557-1713). Later it was under the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and, from the late 19th century, the newly unified Kingdom of Italy.
During World War II, the settlements of Argentario were heavily bombed, with numerous losses. The port of Santo Stefano was destroyed, and was rebuilt only in the 1950s. The railway that connected Orbetello to the mainland was never rebuilt.
Main sights are the city walls and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built over an Etruscan-Roman temple and restructured in 1375 along Tuscan-Gothic lines. Preceded by a step, it houses some notable 15th century frescoes. Another church of particular value is the Church of St. Francesco of Paola and Madonna delle Grazie.
The Palazzo del Podestà and the Guzmán Powder magazine (built in 1692), like many other buildings of classical layout with internal courtyard, clearly show signs of Spanish architecture, like the access gates (especially the Medina Coeli Gate built in 1697 from where it is still possible to access the Orbetello historical center), and the lagoon mill (XVI cent.).

Monastery of Sant'Angelo
On the hills behind Orbetello lie the ruins of the ancient Benedictine monastery of Sant’Angelo Rovinato.
Datable to between the 11th and 12th centuries, it has a structure similar to other Benedictine monasteries, like San Benedetto alla Selva in the town of Manciano.
The complex has a church with a cloister next to it. The refectory, capitular hall and the monk’s cells faced onto the cloister.
The church is the most well-preserved building. It has a single chamber which ends with an apse and has an arched entryway.

Forte delle Saline, Albinia.
At the mouth of the Albegna river, starting at the Giannella pillow there's Forte delle Saline which was used by the Spanish to defend the Stato dei Presidi. [read more]

Peasant and Farming Culture Museum in Orbetello is dedicated to the famous Fondaria Reform and the impact it had on the Maremma region.
The museum was opened in order to document the history of agricultural activity in the area around Orbetello and the changes which took place at the start of the twentieth century up until the ‘Fondaria’ Reform in the 1950s.
The museum is located in Albinia, one of the most important farming areas in the whole Maremma region.
The museum shows visitors what farming life was really like from the start of the twentieth century until the period when the first agricultural consortiums were set up. The museum also documents the social changes which took place over this period. The items on display come from research into photos, old documents, maps and literary works which tell the story of the southern Maremma area, especially during the Reform.
The museum’s aim is to show how farming and peasant culture was indelibly altered over this period, with particular reference to the territory between Albinia, Magliano in Toscana, Manciano and Capalbio.

Peasant and Farming Culture Museum in Orbetello, via Salvo D'Acquisto, 2, Albinia, Orbetello (Grosseto) | www.museidimaremma.it
Opening hours
October – June: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and weekday Public Holidays 10am-1pm
July – August: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and weekday Public Holidays 6pm-10pm
September: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and weekday Public Holidays 4pm-8pm

The “Corteo Storico” is a historical procession held on the streets of Orbetello in November. It is a display of the civilian and military clothing worn by the inhabitants of the town during the Spanish dominion of the Stati dei Presidi.

Comune

Map of Orbetello url | pdf

Walking in Tuscany | Lago di Burano and Tombola di Feniglia | Walking in Tuscany, itineraries between sea and mountains

Walking in Tuscany | The Naturalistic Archeological Park of Vulci

Beaches in Tuscany | Tuscany Beaches in Maremma | [2] From Principina a Mare to Ansedonia
The Maremma seashore, overlooking the Tirrenian Sea, features some of the most beautiful sand beaches of Tuscany. The Maremma's most famous bathing sites combine natural beauty and trendy centres. They stretch from Principina a Mare and Marina di Grosseto in the the Ombrone delta, through Talamone and Ansedonia, up to the tombolo fi Feniglia.
In the south they spread from the Ombrone delta into the wildest tiny gulfs within the Regional Park of Maremma.
Some of these beaches are quite isolated and wonderful, from a natural viewpoint. They are very often embellished by sand dunes, behind which evergreen bushes lead the way to a flourishing and thick pine forest. This type of wood is very closely tied to the history of this land with its past of drainages.

Tuscany | The Tuscan Archipelago


Orbetello, Duomo, the Cathedral Santa Maria Assunta


Tombolo di Feniglia, view from Monte Argentario

Orbetello is joined to the Argentario promontory by two long, golden sand dunes, known as the Tomboli della Feniglia e della Giannella that offer the visitor kilometres of enchanting, unspoilt beaches ...
Tombolo della Feniglia is also a forest preserve of stone pine trees that runs the length of the beach. The stone pine (Pinus pinea), also called Italian stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine, is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Levant.

Spiaggia Feniglia. This impressive beach is 7 km long and it has fine white sand and is backed by a lush pine forest. It ends with the lagoon of Orbetello. It can easily be reached from Porto Ercole.
   
   


Molino Spagnolo


 
   

Another interesting thing to see is Mulino Spagnolo (Spanish Mill), which is situated at the beginning of the dam that connects the town with Argentario.
The Molino Spagnolo or Spanish mill is the only wind mill which remained from a series of nine built by the Sienesi and subsequently restored by the Spaniards, when the lagoon city became the capital of the small State of the Presìdi - State of Royal Spanish Garrisons (1557).
The mill, on a circular basis, was used, together with the others, for grinding the wheat for the city inhabitants. The wheat was transported on typical boats, used in the lagoon of Orbetello and called “barchini”.
The mill emerges from the waters of the lagoon, at the beginning of the artificial dike build on order of the Grand Duke Leopold II in 1842 to connect Orbetello with the Argentario.

In the 17th century, the Spanish built fortifications like the Polveriera Guzman (the Guzmán Powder magazine), a large powder storehouse that contained tons of explosives and that, today, houses the city's archeological museum where you will find Etruscan and Roman finds from the entire area.
The Spanish Forte delle Saline is situated in the frazione of Albinia.

Albinia, a modern agricultural trade centre anda considerably tourist seaside resort, rises near the mouth of the Albegna river, from which it takes the name. The presence of the Tower of the Salines, near the mouth, shows that once salt was produced there.


Forte delle Saline, forte delle Saline

Near the mouth of the Albegna River, on the left shore, the Forte delle Saline is a defensive architectural complex built in the second half of the 15th century. Restored several times since, it is indicated by nineteenth-century historian and naturalist Emanuele Repetti as "Torre delle Saline" with the function of Fort and Customs House. The name of the tower derives from the presence in this area of numerous salterns, which thus imposed the necessity to defend the site, as it was also the point of embarkation of grains from inland Maremma.

The complex is made up of a four-sided compound composed of a thick curtain wall with quite a wide parapet walkway, so as to leave room for the artillery. At the four corners are: the robust tower facing the sea, a small bastion in the opposite corner, and two other bastions with circular sentry boxes (one with cupola roofing, the other unroofed). The base of the compound has sloping walls reinforced at the corners and marked by a stone belt-course. The outwardly projecting tower has a height three times that of the enclosure and, at the peak, a series of arches on corbels. Forte delle Saline is therefore something of a hybrid between the tall, medieval-style tower and the low, robust curtain walls in response to the introduction of the cannon to the art of war, which prescribed the construction of architectural structures resistant to enemy fire, and able to permit cannons to fire at eye level.

The building inside the enclosure was used as a barracks of the Guardia di Finanza until 1962. Today, the entire complex is private property and serves as a private residence.

 

The Oasis of Orbetello


 

Forte delle Saline, Albinia
The Oasis of Orbetello includes three itineraries:

The first trail is a birdwatching path. It is accessible from September to April either independently or with a tour guide; along this path are 9 hideouts for birdwatching. The path is about 1.2 km long.

The second trail leads intoPatanella Woods. The path includes some observation points and is about 1km long. Accessible all year long through advance booking (guided tours available).

The third path is a hiking trail that connects the visitor centre (Ceriolo) to Patanella woodland: the path is about 3 km and crosses various habitats. Accessible year-round by booking a guided tour.

There is also a small nature trail next to the Giannella farmhouse where it is possible to see an exhibition on wetlands.
Paths are equipped with information boards that provide information on the oasis and species identification guidelines.



 

  Mappa Tombolo Feniglia
Map Tombolo Feniglia

Galería Fotográfica della Costa Toscana

Gallería Fotográfica della Costa Toscana


 

   
Porto commerciale del valle   Porto Ercole - Vista fortezza dalla rocca 2.JPG   Monte Argentario - Vista della giannella 2.jpg

Porto San Stefano

 

  Porto Ercole - Vista fortezza dalla rocca   Monte Argentario - Vista della giannella

 

 

Tombolo feniglia   Porto Ercole Filippo   View of Osa Beach in Orbetello

Tombolo di Feniglia visto da Forte Stella sul Monte Argentario. In primo piano in basso Porto Ercole

 

 

 

Porto Ercole

 

  View of Osa Beach in Orbetello


Enlarge map Orbetello

Cicloturismo in Maremma | Giro del Monte Argentario | Orbetello - Porto Ercole - Punta Avvoltore - Strada Panoramica - Porto Santo Stefano - Orbetello

 

 

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