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Massa Marittima
For a wonderful relaxing holiday with your family, the sea of Tuscany

Massa Marittima, which despite its name is more than twenty miles from the sea, is considered one of the gems of medieval Tuscany. Its origins are shrouded in mystery and even though its surroundings have been detected traces of human settlements from the Bronze Age, in the Etruscan period that the area was

renowned for the richness of its mines and that most likely the current city was the Roman Mass Veternense, the settlement remained on the margins of history until at least the ninth century when it became the center of the temporal power transfer thanks to the bishop of the episcopal see of Populonia due to the deterioration and abandonment of this city. The bishop chose to leave the coast, became marshy and subject to continuous pirate raids Greeks and Saracens to retreat in the heart of the metalliferous hills. It seems, however, that initially was not chosen as the venue Massa Marittima, in fact, are the 1016 the first traces of the existence of a church on the spot and of the beginning of the twelfth century the news of the constitution of the episcopal see.

In 1225 Massa became a free commune , finally breaking away from episcopal control , and from there began a period of great prosperity for the city, thanks to the commercial exploitation of minerals (iron, copper , lead, silver ), of which the zone was rich , so that the name was changed to ' Mass Metallorum ' . This epoch are its major monuments such as the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral (begun perhaps as early as the twelfth century) , the Praetorian Palace and the Town Hall ( 1230) , the Public Fountain ( 1265) to the city walls less still has two beautiful doors ( Salnitro and San Bernardino ) . It was then launched a grandiose plan of transformation of the upper town , later called ' new town ' , and was issued on ' Mining Code ' , one of the most important legal documents of medieval Italy and perhaps the oldest example of labor legislation in order to regulate all mining activities , mining and business . In the early 1300s the city had between 10,000 e 20,000 inhabitants. The wealth , along with the strategic location, the city attracted the sights of Pisa, Siena and Florence, in whose arguments was involved up to 1337 , when Massa Marittima fell under the domination of Siena . Immediately planned , thanks to the imposition of heavy taxes to the citizens , the reconstruction and expansion of the fortifications:

a second wall was erected around the city and the new , between this and the old part , the Fortress . This acted in practice as a hinge between the two parts of the city , dominating both , incorporating the ancient fortress and residence of the bishop Monteregio (of which no trace remains ) and the primitive Keep , the Tower of Candlestick now reduced to two-thirds of its original height , joined to the walls of a bridge with flying buttress . At this point , at the top of the steep street Moncini that connects the lower city , rises the magnificent gate to silicas , with double machicolation and numerous other defensive measures , perhaps the most beautiful gate of the medieval town of Tuscany. The shape of the Fortezza Senese is ' Butterfly ' , in fact the two curtain walls are separated by just 15 meters to the north , at the aforesaid port , and widen up to be separated by 42 meters to the south, where englobed the bishop's fortress . The defensive system was designed to ensure security and external contacts in the case that both sides of the city had fallen into enemy hands . All the rest of the perimeter wall had the same characteristics of the fortress, machicolation with beautiful stone arches , and interspersed by numerous square towers . Still preserves the Porta S. Francis and around the east side while much of the west side was demolished between the XVIII and XIX century. The plague of 1348 and the loss of autonomy caused the decline began the Mass , so much so that in 1408 the population was reduced to about 400 people. In 1555 , the Sienese defeated by the army of Charles V ally to the Medici , the city was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany . But it was only thanks to the reclamation of the eighteenth century under the Lorraine area came to life with the development of agriculture and extractive activities . Fortunately, the city has been rediscovered, especially in the last century by historians, scholars and artists who have contributed to bring back former splendor of its artistic and architectural heritage thanks to judicious restoration . Today, the historic center of Massa Marittima is a tourist destination must for all lovers of the Middle Ages who visit Tuscany .