A few hundred houses with a few thousand inhabitants, a romantic corner of the old Maremma between the azure sea and the evergreen hills, with rocks going down to the sea and beaches bordered by thick brush and extensive pine woods, a Fishing harbour dominated by an embattled, medieval castle: this is Castigtione della Pescaia. In addition to its delightful beach, its sea and pine woods, Castiglione della Pescaia can also offer the fascination of the imposing remains of its important past. The first group of houses probably stood on the eminence facing the outlet of Lake Prile (Prilis Lacus) at the time when the Etruscans were building Vetulonia, that is in the IX century B.C. On the banks of the lake, near the outlet, the Romans built Fisheries, salt basins and a village called Salebrone, which became a posting station on the Via Aurelia. It is preciselv fronm those fisheries, traces of which may still be seen today in the Paduline region, that Castiglione della Pescaia took its present name. Another testimony of the presence of the descendants of Romulus may be seen in the ruins of the Badia al Fango (abbey in the mud) standing on the Clodia island, in the middle of the lake. In the year 962, desiring to grant further privileges, Otto I, Emperor of Germany ceded Castiglione della Pescaia to Pisa. The Pisans surrounded Castiglione with a ring of walls with eleven towers and three gates, as well as a triangular castle. Today, all this forms the upper part of the village. At the beginning of 1100, Saint William, IXth Duke of Aquitaine, came to the Empia valley or Malavalle of Castiglione. He had chosen this place, which was then unhealthy and little known, in order to serve God in rugged penitence and solitude. He died there on the 10th February 1157 to the sorrow of the whole Maremma, where today he is venerated as patron. In 1404, the inhabitants of Castiglione who, after the decline of the power of Pisa, no longer had protectors, decided in council to submit to Florence. Later, Castiglione passed into the hands of the Aragonesi (1447-1460) and they granted the village to Antonio Piccolomini for 50 thousand gold florins. Exhausted by the war with Siena, the Piccolominis ceded our village to Eleonor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, on 20th January 1559. Thus, after 110 years, the Medicis came back, no longer as protectors but as masters. Castiglione remained under Florence till April 1859, when the revolution drove out Leopold II, which led to his abdication and lastly to Tuscany being annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. In 1833, our village was declared an indipendent municipality. But the archeological remains and traces of its long history are certainly not the most interesting attraction of Castiglione della Pescaia. Now-a-days, its name is well known both nationally and internationally in the tourist trade During the spring and summer, this tourism multiplies the population by ten; this benevolent and rather sly Maremma village turns into a cosmopolitan centre where, at any hour of the day or night, one can meet and chat with someone from Finland, Switzerland, America or Sweden. In our village, this picturesque corner of the old Maremma, every season has its charm, there is a warm feeling of hospitality and everyone can choose the kind of life he likes in company or in relaxed and dreamy solitude.

Abruzzo National Park
Agrigento
Alassio
Alassio
Albenga
Albenga
Alberobello
Albisola and Albissola
Alghero
Altare
Amalfi
Ancona
Andora
Aosta
Aquila
Arezzo
Arnasco
Asolo
Assisi
Bagno a Ripoli
Balestrino
Bardineto
Basilicata
Basso Veronese
Bellaria
Bergamo
Bergeggi
Bergeggi park
Boissano
Bologna
Bolzano
Borghetto Santo Spirito
Borgio Verezzi
Bormida
Brescia
Brindisi
Cagliari
Cairo Montenotte
Calenzano
Calice Ligure
Calizzano
Camogli
Campobasso
Capraia e Limite
Capri
Carcare
Carloforte
Casamicciola
Casanova Lerrone
Caserta
Castelbianco
Castelfiorentino
Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena
Castiglione della Pescaia
Catania
Cattolica
Celle Ligure
Cengio
Ceriale
Ceriale
Cerreto Guidi
Certaldo
Cerveteri
Cervinia
Chiavari
Cisano sul Neva
Civitavecchia
Como
Cortona
Cosenza
Cosseria
Courmayeur
Dego
Empoli
Erli
Ferrara
Fiesole
Figline
Finale Ligure
Finale valley
Fiorenzuola
Florence
Forio
Frascati
Fucecchio
Gallinara park
Gambassi Terme
Gardone
Garlenda
Genoa
Giustenice
Giusvalla
Grado
Greve in Chianti
Gubbio
Herculaneum
Impero valley
Impruneta
Impruneta
Incisa in val d'Arno
Ischia Porto & Ponte
Isernia
La Maddelena
La Spezia
La Spezia
Lago Maggiore
Laigueglia
Lake Bracciano
Lake Vico
Lampedusa
Lavagna
Lazise
Lecce
Lerici
Lessinia
Linosa
Lipari
Loano
Lucca
Magliolo
Mallare
Mantua
Marciana Marina
Marina di Campo
Massimino
Milan
Millesimo
Mioglia
Misano Adriatico
Monreale
Montecatini Terme
Montelupo Fiorentino
Monterosso
Mungivacca
Murialdo
Nasino
Noli
Noto
Nuoro
Olbia
Onzo
Orco Feglino
Oristano
Orta
Ortovero
Orvieto
Osiglia
Ostia Antica
Otranto
Padua
Paestum
Palermo
Pallare
Parco del Cilento
Pavia
Pegli
Perugia
Pesaro
Pescara
Pescasseroli
Peschiera
Piana Crixia
Pienza
Pietra Ligure
Pisa
Plodio
Pompeii
Pompeii
Pontassieve
Pontine islands
Pontinvrea
Porto Cervo
Porto Ferro
Porto Rotondo
Portoferraio
Portofino
Portovenere
Positano
Pratolino
Quiliano
Rapallo
Ravenna
Recco
Rialto
Riccione
Rimini
Riomaggiore
Roccavignale
Salo
San Casciano Val di Pesa
San Gimignano
San Piero a Sieve
SAN SEVERO (71016)
Sanremo
Santa Margherita Ligure
Santa Margherita Ligure
Sassari
Sassello
Saturnia
Scrivia valley
Siena
Siracusa
Sirmione
Sorrento
Stella
Stellanello
Stresa
Stromboli
Su Nuraxi
Subiaco
Sybari's Marine
Taormina
Tarquinia
Tellaro
Termoli
Testico
The Castle above Zuccarello
Tivoli
Toirano
Torsero park
Tovo San Giacomo
Trastevere
Trebbia valley
Tremiti islands
Trento
Trieste
Turin
Tusculum
Udine
Urbe
Vado Ligure
Valpolicella
Vara valley
Varatella valley
Varazze
Vendone
Venice
Ventimiglia
Verona
Vesima
Vezzi Portio
Viareggio
Vicenza
Villanova d'Albenga
Vinci
Viterbo
Vulcano