Monte Amiata

( Monte Amiata from Parco Faunistico)

Mount Amiata, the only volcano in Tuscany, shows its unmistakable outline also when watch from distance. A neat, sharp outline. An island that seems to be floating across a sea of gentle hills. Surrounded by the most classic landscapes of the Maremma and the Sienese area, Amiata, over thousand of years, has been a different place from the surrounding lands. Its luxuriant forests and strangely shaped rocks, its springs and mines have made the inhabitants who live on the top of it proudly different. Like on an island, the waves of history have lapped Amiata across century. Neither the Etruscans nor the Romans, nor the Longobards, nor the western emperors, nor Florence nor Siena did ever succeed in damaging the mountain's spirit, nature and magic. Mr. Ernesto Balducci, a renowned son of this mountain, says about Amiata: "a wonderful casket keeping memories thousands years ols and taking their roots into a stream of lava erupted hundred thousands years ago". These are words carrying a precious hint. On the volcano, nature and history are closely interwined. Trees and monuments, as well as water, villages, rocks and roads tell the same story.