The origins of Grosseto trace back to
the High Middle Ages.
It is first mentioned in 803 as a fief of the Counts
Aldobrandeschi, in a document
stating the assignment of the church of St. George to
Ildebrando degli Aldobrandeschi,
whose successor where counts of the Grossetana Mark
until the end of the 12th century.
It grew in importance with years, owing to the decay of
Rusellæ (cfr. infra) and Vetulonia.
Grosseto was one of the principal Etruscan cities. In
1137 the city was sieged by German troops
led by duke Henry X of Bavaria, send by the emperor
Lothair III to reinstate his authority
over the Aldobrandeschi. One year later the bishopric of
Roselle was transferred to Grosseto.
In 1151 the citizens swore loyalty to Siena.
When in 1222 the Aldobrandeschi gave
the Grossetani the right to have a podestà of their own,
together with three councellors and
the consuls. In 1244, the city passed again to Siena,
together with all
the Aldobrandeschi's imperial privileges as the Sienese
captured it and were legally invested
with it by the imperial vicar; thus Grosseto shared the
fortuned of Siena
. It became an important
stronghold, and the fortress (rocca), the walls and
bastions are still to be seen. In 1266 and
in 1355, it sought freedom from the overlordship of
Siena, but in vain. While Guelph and Ghibelline
parties struggled within the city, Umberto and
Aldobrandino Aldobrandeschi tried to regain to
their family Grosseto. The Senese armies were however
victorious, and in 1259 they named a podestà
from their city. But Grosseto freed and the year later
fought alongside with Florence in the
Battle of Montaperti.
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The following decades saw Grosseto again
occupied, ravaged, excommunicated
by Pope Clement IV, again free under a republic led by
Maria Scozia Tolomei, sieged by emperor
Louis IV (1328) and by the antipope Nicholas V in 1336,
until it definitively submitted to
the most powerful Siena.
The pestilence of 1348 struck hard against Grosseto,
whose population in 1369 had reduced
to some a hundred of familiar nuclei. Its territory,
moreover, was frequently ravaged, as in 1447
by Alfons V of Sicily and in 1455 by Jacopo Piccinino.
It became an important
stronghold, and the fortress (rocca), the walls and
bastions are still to be seen. In 1266 and
in 1355, it sought freedom from the overlordship of
Siena, but in vain. While Guelph and Ghibelline
parties struggled within the city, Umberto and
Aldobrandino Aldobrandeschi tried to regain to
their family Grosseto. The Senese armies were however
victorious, and in 1259 they named a podestà
from their city. But Grosseto freed and the year later
fought alongside with Florence in the
Battle of Montaperti. The following decades saw Grosseto
again occupied, ravaged, excommunicated
by Pope Clement IV, again free under a republic led by
Maria Scozia Tolomei, sieged by emperor
Louis IV (1328) and by the antipope Nicholas V in 1336,
until it definitively submitted to
the most powerful Siena.
The pestilence of 1348 struck hard against Grosseto,
whose population in 1369 had reduced
to some a hundred of familiar nuclei. Its territory,
moreover, was frequently ravaged, as in 1447
by Alfons V of Sicily and in 1455 by Jacopo Piccinino.
--Vulci---Populonia
Vetulonia has Etruscan origins.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus places the city within the
Latin alliance against Rome in the seventh century BC.
According to Silius Italicus (Punica VIII.485ff),
the Romans took their magisterial insignia, the Lictors'
rods and fasces and the curule seat, from Vetulonia; in
1898, a tomb in the necropolis was discovered with a
bundle of iron rods with a double-headed axe in the
centre, and soon afterwards, a grave stela inscribed for
Avele Feluske was discovered, on which the fasces were
pictued. Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy also cite the town.
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near Grosseto
Uccellina Park,
the Maremma Natural Park. With an
extension of over one hundred squared kilometres, not
including the external trip next to it, the Park borders
with the sea to the south and South West, and overlooks
it in the southern part with a high and eroded coast.
Moving up to the North, this type of coast is then
overtaken by beaches whose vegetation is mainly
characterised by pioneering species which can easily
adapt to the difficult sandy and saltish environment.
Moving away from the waterline, it is possible to see
the change of vegetation with the predominance of
species characteristic of the Mediterranean maquis. The
coastal line has been subjected to many changes, not
only during the geological periods but also in recent
times: this explains why it has moved forward to the
south of Marina di Alberese, and why it has considerably
moved back on both sides of the mouth of the River
Ombrone ( Fiume Ombrone). From a naturalistic point of
view, the whole group characterised by the Uccellina
Mountains ( Monti dell’ Uccellina), the pine-wood of
Marina di Alberese, the mouth of the River Ombrone and
Trappola marshes ( paludi), represents a precious mosaic
of ecosystems on which man has intervened in different
ways and moments: in doing so he
has contributed to further changes of the landscape,
without degrading or impoverishing it.
Maremma Natural Park is located in Southern Tuscany and
is part of the Province of Grosseto ( Provincia di
Grosseto); from
www.parco-maremma.it/Inglese
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