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Towns of the area

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Piancastagnaio

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Inhabitants in 1991: 4.401

The municipal territory of Piancastagnaio extends for 68,70 square kilometres in a mountainous zone on the south eastern slopes of Monte Amiata. Feudal centre then Medieval Podesta office since the XIII century, it became capital of the Grand Duchy Feudal in XVII century and then Community Seat in 1778.

Piancastagnaio is recorded from the end of the XI century for the conflict over its civil jurisdiction which arose between the Aldobrandeschi family and the Abbey of San Salvatore del Monte Amiata; The dispute, in which even the Visconti di Campiglia d’Orcia were involved, continued in the XIII century when Piancastagnaio had by then become an important castle constituted as municipality. For some time it gravitated towards the orbit of the Orvieto republic regarding politics, and was occupied by the same in 1303 and remained with them until almost the middle of the century. Still contested by the Orsini di Pitigliano heirs of the Aldobrandeschi, and by Siena, who in the course of the XIV century had intensified their expansionistic attempts, between 1415 and 1430 Piancastagnaio freely subjected themselves to the Siena republic. In 1456 Siena, to whom Piancastagnaio remained tied until the XVI century, ordered and took care of the restoration of the castle walls. Today, a well maintained fortress remains, three towers and some traces of the walls. In 1601 the Grand Duke Ferdinando I conceded the territory (which from 1559 had become part of the Duchy of Cosimo I) in feudal to the Marquis Giovanni Battista Bourbon del Monte, to whom is owed the construction of the imposing palace outside the walls. In 1778 the feudal was suppressed and the territory of Piancastagnaio reorganised inside the Grand Duchy State. During the war of liberation the zone was the seat of an intense partisan activity.

Places to visit:
Aldobrandeschi Fortress, placed at the entrance to the ancient village, it shows the mighty tower organised as a museum.
Madonna di S. Pietro, 1500 sanctuary outside the town.

Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford


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