Ancient hamlets that guard and reveal Maremma’s great past, in form of tales and legends passed down during the centuries
Certaldo’s tunnels
This is a story that has been passed down for centuries but which maintains a basis of truth. The elders of the village say that under Certaldo Alto there are numerous tunnels and galleries that turn around the perimeter of the country until they get to a hill adjacent to the Tuscan village called Poggio del Boccaccio.
It is said that as for the pyramids, these tunnels lead to a structure buried under the hill, which in fact, has the characteristic pyramidal shape and is thought to be of artificial origin.
Travale’s Guaita
Inside the historical archive of Volterra is guarded an ancient manuscript called Travale’s Guaita. This text testifies perhaps the first appearance of the vernacular in Italy, then one of the first evidence of the Italian language. The document speaks of a contest of goods between two characters of the time, but more than the content of the document, the historical part is of extreme importance which highlights what the ancient culture of the peoples of the Maremma Tuscany might have been.
Boccheggiano’s Roste
Along the road from Massa Marittima to Siena there is a part of land which looks like lunar landscape and it is called “Roste”. Truth is, these formations are not of natural origin but rather the result of geological exploitation of land by men for copper mining. Copper was mined in the territory of Boccheggiano until the early 1900s, but the red-colored soil has remained to this day and can be admired by those who want to visit this site while on holiday in Maremma
