For those looking for a holiday of peace, relaxation and nature, Etruscan Coast It's the perfect destination. This corner of paradise affects the eyes of visitors all year round, but gives the best of itself in spring, when everything is dyed with bright colors and the scents of flowers, trees and plants spread in the air.
All the territory is a succession of emotions: a wonderful journey between hidden coves, archaeological parks, enchanted villages, Mediterranean maquis, sea and mountain. The Costa degli Etruschi, also known as the Bolgheri Coast, is a living land, with a genuine and wild energy that is perceived in its colors and scents that remain long after departure.
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Itinerary on the Etruscan Coast
San Silvestro Archaeomynerary Park
Along the Etruscan Coast you can admire white beaches and unspoilt nature. But even if you move in the hinterland, there are many places to explore. An example is San Silvestro Archaeomynerary Park, a magical place able to charm and surprise visitors.
The park contains museums, mining galleries, a medieval village of miners and funders created many years ago and paths of great historical, geological and naturalistic interest. Visiting this suggestive place outside of time is an interesting way to understand the nature, history and archaeology of Tuscany.
The route consists of two parts. The first door inside the Temperino Mine, where you can see the evolution of mineral extraction techniques; you will then arrive at the Museum of Miners, a suggestive place that preserves photos and documents related to mine life.
The second part of the route takes place on board a train that runs along the mining sites of the mineral and the processing plants of the Valle dei Lanzi; from here, with a short walk, you reach Rocca San Silvestro, a medieval village inhabited by miners and farmers for over 300 years. A trip to the Archaeominerary Park is a total and exciting immersion in the past.
Tarot Garden
The Tarot Garden is a real open-air museum, a magical place in the heart of Maremma, near Capalbio, in the province of Grosseto. It is the result of a life dedicated by the artist Niki de Saint Phalle, to art and it is proof that dreams can become reality, even if you are a woman, artist, entrepreneur and only sponsor of such a work. As most of his works reveal, he is a microcosm capable of revealing the deeper and secret archetypal images of our unconscious.
In fact, for visitors who cross its wall of cinta, designed by the Ticino architect Mario Botta to symbolically separate the real world from the imaginary one, an initiatory journey opens up that leads them to fight dragons and devils and to come across queens and prophets before meeting the angels of temperance."
Entering the park you have the impression of being inside the park Parc Güell in Barcelona: references to the art of Gaudí pervade the surrounding space, where there are scattered twenty-two monumental sculptures, some habitable and other simply majestic. The sculptures are covered with mosaics of mirrors, glass and coloured ceramics that seem to catapult visitors in a magical place of rare beauty.
An opportunity to visit a place where nature and art intertwine and complement each other, filling the space of colors and emotions reminiscent of the fairytale world and hiding a veil of mystery under its shadows. The Tarot Garden is also a place to live in community, a place where life is marked by the rhythm of the sun and the moon and the will to share with others around you.
Suvere
Continue exploring the hinterland of the Etruscan Coast, we arrive at Suvere, a village immersed in the beautiful rural landscape of the Tuscan hills overlooking the most beautiful and clear sea of the coast Tuscany. It is a small jewel that looks out of a fairy tale: it is surrounded by cork, olive trees and beautiful vineyards that, during spring blossoming, enrich with colors and intense scents the wonderful atmosphere.
The cork oak (really) is the most evident element of this country, so much so that its name comes from that of the tree and appears in the municipal coat of arms along with a lion, to indicate its importance in the past. In spring, you can't help noticing the first flowers that begin to flourish among the trees; spring announces the awakening of many plant species.
Chestnut Carducci
Castagneto Carducci is a fundamental stage of the tour to discover the Etruscan Coast. The village rises on a green hill overlooking the sea and owes its name to Giosuè Carducci, who tells the extraordinary beauty of this village in his famous poem "The Cypresses that at Bólgheri tall and schietti Van da San Guido in two rows, Almost in the race giants bullocks jumped me and looked at me".
The poet Giacomo Carducci spent his childhood in this area. The beautiful landscape inspired him to write his wonderful literature. The green cypresses, which Carducci admired during his walks in nature, are still visible today and are part of a protected nature reserve. The link between the poet and Castagneto is very strong and indissoluble and makes this natural landscape so rich and varied.
The places where Carducci spent his childhood reflect the carefreeness he has accompanied him throughout his life. You can find some views and views that seem to catapult the viewer directly in the verses of some of his masterpieces.
Castiglioncello
Continuing towards Livorno, you will meet the charming seaside village of Castiglioncello. One of its hamlets overlooks the sea; the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio defined this area as an "ocious and hedonistic" paradise. Right here was a villa he frequented and renamed "Godilonda", by the name of a character in his book The Old Town. An ideal destination for those looking for a moment of passion and inspiration. Many years later, also famous actors such as Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman and Alberto Sordi appreciated it so much to turn it into a small Hollywood film set!
Sovana Vie Cave
The territory of the municipality of Sorano is a corner of the Etruscan Coast still little known and remained long away from the great routes of communication. Thanks to its isolation, however, Sovana today presents itself as a unique place in the world. In 2003 the village was included in the list of "Best Villages in Italy" and in 2004 Le Vie Cave have been inserted in the list of World Heritage from the World Monuments Fund, an American cultural foundation.
The Vie Cave are ancient and fascinating open-air routes carved into the tufa rock. They are a kind of labyrinth with walls up to 25 meters high and a kilometer long. You can walk or ride. Walking along these paths is very fascinating and seems to cross a fairytale world. It is like entering the earth, walking between dizzying walls and mysterious engravings, surrounded by a primordial nature of great charm. In some places, the treetops have created a sort of vegetable roof among the high rocky walls, where the sunlight filters and creates suggestive light games.
The purpose of the Vie Cave is not known precisely. Some believe they were used for sacred and funerary purposes, while others say they were connecting roads, defensive systems or even works for the outflow of water. What is certain is that they had to be of great importance, since to build a single Cava, called "Cavone", 40 thousand tons of volcanic rock have been removed.
Along the Vie Cave, we see tombs and engravings of Etruscan times. Many signs of wear on the calpestius plane were caused by the secular passage of the wagons, witnessing how much they were used over time. Another important aspect of the Vie Cave is the environmental aspect. In these paths a particular microclimate has developed that has favoured the growth of vegetation typical of humid and shady environments.
