Having stayed a third full day at Hu Norcenni Girasole in Figline Valdarno, we felt it was time to move on. Our next stop would be yet another Hu Site (Camping Park Albatross) – Vanya now had the bit between her teeth so far as campsites were concerned.
Hu Camping Park Albatross is located between San Vincenzo and Piombino in the province of Livorno. We drove through San Vincenzo as we made our way south to the campsite and were not overly impressed by the place but, no matter, our primary reason for heading this way was to visit either the tiny island of Elbe (which was where Napoleon Bonaparte spent an all too short period of exile before Waterloo and which can be reached by ferry from Piombino) or the Tuscan hillside village of Suvereto (which is one of the ‘borghi piu belli d’Italia’ – one of the most beautiful villages in Italy). We settled on the latter, it being just 10 miles or so inland from where we were camped.
Suvereto, formerly known as Castello di Sughereto, is a remarkably well preserved medieval village of some 3,000 residents in an area of Italy known as the Maremma. This area of almost 5,000 square kilometres encompasses most of Tuscany’s Grosseto Province and extends along the Tuscan coast as far north as Cecina and as far south as Civitavecchia in Lazio. It fills much of what was once Etruria, home to the Etruscans, and is perhaps the wildest part of Tuscany. This is largely due to the Romans who, after finally defeating the Etruscans in 396, failed to properly care for the canals and drainage systems developed by the Etruscans. As a result, much of the land deteriorated into swampland, with malaria became rife, and only the hilltop villages (the likes of Suvereto, Pitigliano, Massa Marittima, Montegiovi, Canneto, Buriano, etc) continued to prosper. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that the Grand Duke Leopold II set about restoring the drainage systems and the land was properly reclaimed.
There are two entrances through the largely intact walls which encircle the old village; the north gate, the Porta di Sassetta, and; a south gate, which lost it’s original name when it was rebuilt in 1857 and seems now to be known simply as the ‘new gate’. The entrances are connected by the village’s main thoroughfare, the Via Magenta. We entered using the new gate from the Piazza Vittorio Veneto but not before taking breakfast at a small coffeeshop, the ‘La Gattubuia’, which is esconced in the old walls on the Piazza. It was a lovely way to start the day; just sitting in the shade for a while and drinking coffee on this pleasant little square.
Of course, it was Vanya and our dogs who spent most of this short time on the square because, also on Piazza Vittorio Veneto are two churches, one alongside the other, which simply had to be explored. One is a very plain salmon coloured church, the Church of Saint Michael Archangel, which was built in 1881 but abandoned soon after and turned into a small museum (the Museum of Sacred Art). The other is the village’s primary church, Chiesa di San Giusto Vescovo. This church was built on the site of earlier Christian structures some time in the 10th century although, it wasn’t completed until 1189. It is named after a former Bishop of Volterra and; while it too doesn’t have a particularly impressive exterior, there are some interesting features inside.
The Chiesa di San Giusto has some interesting history about it too. In 1313, the Holy Roman Emperor (Henry VII of Luxembourg), who was not liked in these parts, was allegedly poisoned while taking holy communion and his body was temporarily interred in the church pending an investigation into his death (he died aged just 38). Franciscan monks from the nearby monastery then roasted the Emperor’s body over a fire and removed his head and boiled it. Now, why would they do that? Was it part of the internment process or were they seeking to conceal evidence of poisoning? I doubt I’ll ever know.
After a second cup of coffee, Vanya and I made our way up the Via Magenta into the old village. Suvereto is a compact village full of medieval stone houses linked by a maze of mixed stone, paved and cobbled streets and alleys. It is mostly pedestrianised because, with the exception of Via Magenta, the streets are too narrow for four wheeled vehicles. Moreover, it’s a mountain village with some steep streets which often give way to covered walkways and staircases and these too make it difficult for vehicles. You only need look at some of the photos I took to realise this.
We made it to Suvereto’s equivalent of a town hall, the Palazzo Comunale, before Vanya’s concern about Nala’s ability to negotiate the steep streets in her ‘walking wheels’ prompted a return to the La Gattubuai. Before anyone gets too excited over the impressive looking Palazzo Communale, it is not open to tourists. I asked for a look-see and was politely declined.
Vanya was happy for me to continue my exploration of the village. I made my way back to the Palazzo Communale and then on to the village’s highest point, the 9th century castle ruin of Rocco Aldobrandesca. The ruin is being restored by the municipality but it is difficult to believe it was used as a private residence from 1800 up until as recently as 1950. It is very much ‘work in progress’. No matter, the short walk up to the ruin is worthwhile if only for the splendid views over the thickly forested Val di Cornia with it’s many chestnut trees, cork oak plantations, olive groves and vines. A little aside, did you know that the cork oak can regenerate it’s bark? It takes about 9 years.
The descent on the far side of the Rocco Aldobrandesca leads around to the Porta di Sassetta and the top end of the Via Magenta. This would lead me back to Vanya and our two dogs at La Gattubuai on the Piazza Vitorrio Veneto and, with a few short diversions, allow me to explore the rest of the village.
One of the more interesting buildings on the Via Magenta is the Chiesa della Madonna di Sopra la Porta. From the outside it looks like just another chapel but inside it is something else. Much like the time travel vehicle, the TARDIS (from the TV programme ‘Doctor Who’), the church seems to be far bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. For those who have never watched the TV programme (could there be such people?), TARDIS is an acronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space and; thanks to “dimensional engineering beyond human comprehension”, the Tardis has the ability to fold one space inside another, thereby allowing it to be bigger on the inside. Simples!
Another interesting feature of the village is to be found alongside the 16th century Chiesa Crosifisso. It is the old cloister of a 13th century Franciscan monastery which now serves as a tiny square in the village, the Piazza della Cisterna. Some of the monastery buildings were knocked down and used to build the Chiesa Crosifosso and, more recently, others were converted into private houses. By the way, it was monks from this monastery who ‘handled’ the body of Henry VII of Luxembourg, whom I mentioned earlier in this blog.
There’s also some interesting street art in this area but I cannot tell you anything about these pieces.
I’ve just realised how much I’ve written about Suvereto and I haven’t got around to mentioning the area’s red wine with it’s DOCG label. I’ll leave it at that except to say that we were so pleased to have visited this village. It’s a pocket of wholly authentic rural life (I read that description somewhere and/but it really does suit). There is also a real lived-in feel about the place and we highly recommended it as somewhere to visit.