CAPALBIO
Capalbio is situated on a woody hill 217 meters above
sea level a short distance from the Via Aurelia. Until 1960 the territory
of Capalbio was included within the Comune of Orbetello. The last patch of
coast of southern Tuscany, Capalbio is characterised by low hills
which taper off into a plain as they approach the sea.
In remote times
this plain was an extensive swamp bounded by sandy tombolos. This land,
once plagued by malaria and roving highwaymen, preserves a multitude of
animal and plant species which formerly populated the entire Maremma.
Thanks to the abundance of game, especially boar, but also hares, wild
rabbits, pheasants and swamp birds, hunting is widely practised in the
area, and many dishes of the local cuisine reflect ths activity. The boar
festival is heid each year in September.
This traditional holiday at
summer's end features performances by the "butteri," the
Maremma's equestrian herdsmen. Mentioned for the first time
as the property of the Abbey of the Three Fountains in a 12th
century document, Capalbio subsequently belonged to the Aldobrandeschi
of Santa Fiora, who long disputed its possession with the
Comune of Orvieto, and then to the Orsini.
In 1416 Capalbio
came under the sway of the Republic of Siena, and the
area began to develop. In 1557 the territory of Capalbio was
annexed to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until 1860.
In these three centuries of rule,
Capalbio’s economic situation steadily deteriorated, leading to
the depoputation of the countryside and, in the 19th century,
the spread of roving brigands. In 1896, Domenico
Tiburzi,
the most infamous of the Maremma's bandits, was killed and
buried in Capalbio.
The town is compietely enclosed within a double
set of Sienese walls, along which extensive stretches of the
suggestive patrol bays can still be walked. Capalbio has a medieval town
plan, with narrow, curved streets climbing to the top of the hill
dominated by the Rocca Aldobrandesca. The double-bay Porta Senese, which
is crowned by a tower, is the gateway to the historic centre.
A marbie
inscription on the gate commemorates the 1416 restoration of the walls by
the Sienese. The road continues past the so-called Arco Santo (Holy
Arch), capped by a marble bust of the Emperor Hadrian, and climbs to the Church
of St. Nicholas, perhaps dating to the 12th century, standing at the
foot of the rocca. The simple facade has an ogival portal topped by an
inscription commemorating the enlargement and restoration of the church in
1466.
The interior is a single-bay structure with a rectangular apse and
side chapels. The Romanesque capitals with animal and plant motifs and
several frescoes of the 15th and 16th century Umbrian school are quite
interesting.
Over the centuries Capalbio's Rocca has undergone
continuous modifications which have gradually transformed it into a
patrician residence. A square tower with an inclined base rises
directly in front of the Church of St. Nicholas. The Collacchioni Palace,
built over the old structures of the castle in the early decades of this
century, leans against the tower's north side.
In the palace several rooms
complete with their original furnishings can be visited. Among these is
the socalled Sala Puccini, which preserves an Austrian piano from
1823
which the famous composer himself played. Outside the walls is the small Oratory
of Providence.
It is Renaissance in type and was heavily restored in
the 19th century. Inside the oratory is an admirable fresco that has been
attributed to a painter close to the circle of Pinturicchio representing
the Madonna With Child Between Sts. Jerome and Sigismund.
PESCIA FIORENTINA
To the east of Capalbio lies the hamlet of Pescia
Fiorentina. Once the site of a customs
house between the Grand Duchy and the Church State, iron-works were
established here in the 15th century.
To
operate, the works exploited the energy of the Chiarone torrent, and they
ere still partially visible, although converted into farms. Situated
in the nearby locality of Garavicchio is the Garden
of the Tarot Cards, an original creation by the French artist Niki
De Saint Phalle. Amidst hilly verdant woods stand the large polychrome
sculptures covered in glass, ceramic and mirrors which were inspired by
the 22 most important mysteries of the tarot deck.
LAKE OF
BURANO
The road continuing along the coast past Capalbio Scalo
reaches the Lake of Burano, a remnant of the vast swamp that once covered
the entire plain. The swamp dried up because of the effects of the marine
sediments and reclamation projects. The Buranaccio Tower stands at
the centre of the narrow sandy isthmus separating lake from sea.
The tower
was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century to guard the southeastem
border of the Garrison State. Now private property, the tower is a low,
square construction with an access ramp crowned by brackets and
crenellation and is simitar in type to the Rocca of Porto Santo Stefano.
The lake is home to the Lake
of Burano Nature Preserve, created in 1967 and the oldest of the
World Wildlife Fund's protected areas.
A multitude of bird species
stop here, and aficionados can bird watch from special observation points.
The provincial Pedemontana road leads to the Capalbiaccio Hill, today
lying within the Capalbio Farm Holiday-Hunting Centre.
On the grounds of
the centre one can visit the extensive remains of the old Tricosto
Castle, documented in the 12th century and destroyed by the Sienese in
1417. Amidst the thick vegetation lie the ruins of many collapsed
structures and imposing vestiges of an enclosure wall and the walls of a
church.
On the Monteti Hill north-east of Capalbio stand the scant
remains of a medieval settlement from which, tradition has it, the
earliest inhabitants of Capalbio were descended.
On the Via Aurelia, just
prior to the border with Latium, is the elegant Villa Boncompagni, formerly
a pontifical customs house near the then state boundary.
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