Montieri is a village located about 700 m above sea level in the province of Grosseto, lying on the northern side of the mountain bearing the same name. The name derives from Mons Aeris, which means "mountain of copper", and is linked to the mining economy of the area. Of this country, which may have been preceded by an inhabited settlement of Etruscan origin, there is certain information from 896, when the Marquis of Tuscany Alberto il Riccio gave the territory, including the mines, to the bishop of Volterra Arboino: bishops of Volterra had under their rule the country for about four centuries. Due to the wealth of its mineral deposits, Montieri became coveted by the Sienese who in 1181, in search of silver to mint their own coin, bought a quarter of the land and the castle.

Urged by Siena, involved in the struggles between the Pannocchieschi, to whom they were linked, pressed by the nascent town of Masseto, the bishops were also threatened by the local municipal organization, governed by sworn agreements. The oath of 1219, called "brief" by Montieri, is the most ancient statute in Italian vernacular, perhaps consisting of the copy destined to be read publicly to the people before the translation into Latin. These documents, kept in the Diocesan Archives of Volterra, are very precious, as they allow us to highlight the gradual and progressive development of the municipal regime. The "Comune", in this phase, is a simple "pact" between some citizens and has the function of guaranteeing mutual support and defense to the members. In Montieri the "companies" formed the group of "Lambardi", of clear Longobard descent, headed by a dominus and the "members" paid an annual silver tribute. The "companies", having conquered positions of power, achieved municipal autonomy without strongly rebelling against the feudal power of the bishop. The activity of the Mint of Montieri dates back to this period, which had the ability to coin money, called Grosso di Montieri.

In 1326, after being conquered and destroyed by the Massetani, the castle fell under Sienese domination. Already at the end of the XIII century the crisis of mineral deposits was documented, which led to a general decay of the country, aggravated by the plague and famine; from the fifteenth century the economic activities were constituted by agriculture, breeding and exploitation of the woods. Fallen the Sienese Republic in 1555, Montieri became part of the Medici Grand Duchy: in 1608 it was erected in Marchesato by Ferdinando I, together with Boccheggiano. In Biagio Capizucchi, the first Marquis of Montieri, we owe the restoration of the church of San Giacomo Apostolo (1614), abandoned for many years, and the arrangement of the Blessed Giacomo's burial in the church itself. After the death of Biagio Capizzucchi, the people of Montieri asked the Grand Duke to keep the statutes and privileges in force. So it happened and Montieri, throughout the seventeenth century, was governed by the old normative acts revised and collected in its "statutes" of the Five-Seventeenth century, which maintained the spirit of traditional autonomy already present in the "short" of the thirteenth century.

In 1621 the marquisate passed to the Salviati Dukes, enjoying a long period of tranquility. He reacquired the ownership of administrative functions, carried out in the Palazzo di Giustizia, built at that time. The Salviati were actively involved in the Montieri government; to them we owe many buildings, in addition to the Palazzo di Giustizia the enlargement of the village beyond the old walls, the arrangement of numerous streets, the House of the Popes, which together with the Mattii were the administrators of the Salviati Dukes. In 1749 the Marquis was suppressed. With the reforms of Pietro Leopoldo and the subdivision of the State of Siena into two provinces, the Upper Senese and the Lower Senese with capitals respectively in Siena and Grosseto. Montieri reached the first. Montieri in this period was a quiet rural village, supported above all by a good administrative and civic organization. After the Restoration, in 1833 the villages of Travale and Gerfalco were annexed to the territory of Montieri.

Walking through the streets of the historic center is how to retrace the medieval history of this small village, embellished by its tower houses, the castle's keep, the church of San Giacomo, from whose churchyard you can enjoy the intense green panorama, typical of the Metalliferous Hills . The municipal territory is characterized by the presence of vast areas of green with woods of chestnut, oak and beech trees and therefore interested, in the summer months, by holiday phenomena and itinerant tourism. It also has a large municipal park, called "The Plan" which offers relaxing conditions. It is also possible to climb up to the Vetta del Poggio (1050 meters) from which it is possible to admire a vast panorama that extends to Sardinia and Corsica. Around the village, various itineraries will guide you to the discovery of some evidence of the mining origin of the village: from the most remote traces of the Buca delle Fate mine, to the remains of medieval mining wells visible in the locality "I Bottini" later galleries of exploitation of the Piano and of Madonna dei Castagni (See Geopark of the Metalliferous Hills) and the recently discovered remains of the Canonica di San Niccolo '.

The archaeologists of the University of Siena have brought to light, thanks to the report of a group of young Montieri led by Oriano Negrini, the ruins of a settlement on the Poggio di Montieri (GR), about 2 km west of the town: the excavation operations, started in 2008 and completed in the first phase in 2014, revealed the existence of a small town built on an artificial terrace, the Canonica di San Niccolo ', whose memory was also lost, consisting of some buildings intended for craftsmanship, an area used as a cemetery and a church with a hexapetal plan. The most important part of the discovery is the church, as it presents a rare circular plan on which six radially arranged apses open up, falling within the typology of the churches defined for their form "esapetali churches" or "esaconche", of which it constitutes a specimen for now unique in its kind in Italy and little used throughout Europe. The esapetale church seems to have been built in the first half of the eleventh century, given the regularity of the apses and their spatial arrangement, it is assumed that the church was built in accordance with an elaborate high-level project. The workers who built it could not consist of simple local workers, but they had to be "high-level technicians" and its clients had to be important figures, considering the costs of such a work.

Among the elements that emerged from the excavations it is necessary to mention in particular the small pit discovered in the floor of the esapetale church, dug almost in front of the main entrance, containing in the superficial layer carbon residues, perhaps the remains of a ritual fire, mixed with the fragments of a glass goblet and deeper a splendid jewel, now exhibited at the Pinacoteca di Siena, a fibula of the type "ad umbone" or perhaps a pectoral phyllox, a jewel of excellent workmanship in gold, enamels, glass paste and semiprecious stones, the whose origin is not currently known. Even more 'important was the discovery in a quadrangular environment, attached to one of the church's apses and communicating with it through a door, containing the skeleton of a male character: the burial is certainly before the construction of the liturgical building (Around 1030), and this indicates that the church was built for the purpose of honoring and protecting the tomb of the unknown. Around the church were found the burials of at least three hundred individuals, whose remains are dated between the second half of the eleventh and thirteenth centuries; then the cemetery would have begun to form in an age shortly after the first privileged burial and would have lasted a long time, a sign of the importance of the Canonica as a place of worship.

The mystery that surrounds the person buried in the church does not find scientific confirmation, but some legends could shed light on the mystery; like that of San Giacomo di Montieri, transmitted in the various Lives that have come to us, and the Legend of the Knight of the Barcada, popular nursery rhyme transmitted by the wisdom of the montierino people from generation to generation and collected by a friar from the Convent of Montieri around 1700. The latter narrates that a knight arrived in Montieri, "gravely wounded and dripping blood" and "was awakened by his catalepsy" only thanks to the care of some women. After healing, the Knight gives the "women" the treasures accumulated in his exploits and a precious Goblet, whose references in the legend make it possible to identify with a Grail. It is also said that this knight would have "planted" his sword in the rock by throwing it into a cave (and above the Canonica di San Niccolo 'is just a ravine), inevitably evoking the legend of the sword in the rock and the history of the nearby San Galgano . For further information we recommend the following links: http://maremma-magazine.it/primo-piano/storia/la-canonica-di-san-niccolo-a-montieri-un-luogo-ricco-di-mistero-di-fascino-e-di-magia/ http://www.simmetria.org/simmetrianew/contenuti/segnalazioni-mainmenu-304/869-la-leggenda-del-re-minatore-recensione.html

About 6 kilometers from Montieri, immersed in the Metalliferous Hills, lies the small village of Travale built in the Middle Ages as a possession of the Pannocchieschi family until the '300 and then under the hegemony of the Republic of Siena (in' 400) until entering to be part of the lands of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (around the 16th century). Unfortunately today we can not 'admire the ancient palaces and castles, because' have been destroyed over time, both for wars and natural causes (earthquake in 1724), but there are only some traces of the old walls, a tower and the door access to the still intact medieval village. You can also admire the two adjacent churches built with completely different styles: the "della Compagnia" church which over the years became the village's oratory and the church of Santi Michele e Silvestro made in Sienese style.

The country of travale boasts an important historical relic dating back to 1158 called the Charter of Travale or Guaita di Travale, preserved in the historical archive of the Diocese of Volterra, where it is reported the phrase considered by many experts a poetic verse fundamental to the study of the origins of the Dolce Stil Novo. In the parchment are described the testimonies of some men of Travale in reference to the dispute over the ownership of some farmhouses between the count Ranieri Pannocchieschi and his brother Galgano. Just in one of these stories is the sentence of the guardian of the castle of Travale: "Guaita, guaita badly, I did not eat but 'bread mezo', addressed to his lords with the meaning of:" The guard hurts the guard: he does not eat that half bread ". It seems that in this expression the guardian used a popular saying in the vernacular, which is considered one of the first documents of the Italian language. This saying is reported on a plaque placed in the historical center of Travale, which celebrates the birth of the Italian, in honor of which a historical re-enactment is organized in the month of July.

Discovering the history of Travale, we come across a truly fascinating episode, the life of Elena da Travale, wife of Nanni da Travale called Sarteano, but better known as the Witch of the swallows because of the use of swallow chicks in some of his potions magical. Considered one of the most famous witches of our Maremma and specializing in love and hate potions, it is said that on June 12, 1423 she was accused of being an enchantress, diviner and sorcerer and was brought before the Civil and Religious Court of Volterra where, during the interrogation, he unveiled many magical formulas and invoices. In the end, after this confession, she was whipped, exposed to the lazes of the crowd and exiled as well as sentenced to pay 50 florins for court costs.

A short distance from the village, it is possible to visit a botanical excellence: the Corniolo Gigante, inscribed in the list of monumental trees, extends its stem and its foliage for about seven meters. The plant has been in this place for no less than 300 years, although for some scholars it has been the protagonist of the Metalliferous Hills for about 2000 years. The foliage is 11,50 x 12 meters and covers an area of ??110 square meters. The stem is 56 x 47 cm and forks at 1 meter from the ground. In Travale there are also Enel power stations for the production of electricity from geothermal sources, a renewable and sustainable resource whose presence characterizes this whole area and which makes it unique compared to the rest of the Italian territory. Hot steam is also used in huge greenhouses that produce plants for sale.

Boccheggiano, with a unique heart shape, rises to approx. 675 m.s.l.m. The earliest historical documents attesting to the existence of the village date back to the 13th century, when the bishop of Volterra boasted rights to the castle, built at the end of the 12th century. In 1291 the castle of Boccheggiano passed into the hands of the Salimbeni family, which over the years had been working intensely. In 1444 it was definitively occupied by Siena. In 1608, Grand Duke Ferdinand I reunited him with the Marquisate of Montieri, donating him to the Capizzucchi of Rome. Declared a fiefdom by Ferdinand VI, it was granted in 1621 with the title of Marquisate to Antonio Salviati, a Florentine nobleman, and remained in the same family until 1749, when the law on the abolition of the grand-ducal feuds entered into force. With the Lorraines there was a demographic increase, with the emergence of suburbs outside the ancient perimeter, even if the most substantial changes occurred in this century, in relation to the development of mining activity. Similar to the conquest of the West, mining research activities in the area around the country were concentrated between the 19th and 20th centuries. Suffice it to say that one of the largest pyrite mines in Europe, the Campiano mine, continued mining until 1994. (see page: Metalliferous Hills Geopark).

The mining history of the '900 here is the master and there are testimonies everywhere. In fact, near Boccheggiano, along the river Merse, on the north side of the road that leads from Massa Marittima to Siena, you find yourself in front of a reddish earth formation, with a lunar aspect: these are the Calanchi Rossi del Merse, also called Roste. The contrast between the green of the vegetation and the red color of the gullies gives the impression of something artificial, in fact the red gullies are not a natural geological phenomenon. These are the remains of copper working, dating back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, carried out with the leaching and cementing method. The copper ore, which was mined in the Merse Mine, about 2 km away, was transported in wagons, stacked in heaps and roasted outdoors. Water was passed on the piles, which was enriched with copper and iron sulphates; subsequently the water was introduced into cementation furnaces with the addition of iron bars and it released pure copper for an electrochemical process. The mining activities related to the extraction of copper ceased definitively, due to the exhaustion of the lodgings, in 1914. Since then the weather and rainwater have modeled the heaps of abandoned mining waste, giving rise to these unusual formations.

Monterotondo Marittimo is a characteristic village of medieval origin, immersed in chestnut groves, located about 550 meters above sea level. Its name derives from Monts Ritundus due to the particular conical shape of the hill on which the town stands. The Maritime specification is linked to its position in the hinterland of the coastal area. There are no documents that indicate with certainty the origins of Monterotondo, which is mentioned for the first time in a document dated 1128, even if its origin is certainly more remote. At the beginning of the 1200s, it became the property of the Alberti Counts who built a fortress there, of which few ruins remain today, and the walls that completely surrounded the town. Subsequently, after being disputed between Volterra and Massa Marittima, it was part of the political jurisdiction of the latter and remained its fraction until, in 1961, it became an independent municipality. In Monterotondo Marittimo many traces of the medieval past of the town are still visible. In some places, the walls that once surrounded the village are still recognizable, and part of the rise of the shutter built in the fourteenth century is still visible and the ruins of the Rocca degli Alberti, recently restored, dominate the town.

The main prerogative of its territory is the presence of areas of great geological interest, of which the typical industrial buildings of the "soffioni" remain, conserved as evidence of this particular system of energy exploitation and easily visible to the Lake (in the northern part of the Municipality , west of Monterotondo) and Biancane (in the north-eastern part of the municipality 3 km from Monterotondo). In 1777 the presence of boric acid was discovered in the sulphurous waters of the Cerchiaio lake and in 1815 the industrial production of boric acid started. Two years later, Monterotondo became the first European manufacturer in this sector. Near the locality of Frassine, south-west of Monterotondo, there are evidences of the exploitation of minerals and the use of the thermal waters that made the Romans and later also the Longobards, who built a thermal structure here called "Bagni di King Porsenna ", whose remains can still be visited. Also the district of Monterotondo Marittimo offers many attractions: the small Romanesque church of S. Croce, the coeval mining castle of Cugnano, the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Frassine, a place of pilgrimage of noteworthy, unique and main Marian Shrine of the Maremma, where it is venerated an ancient wooden statue of the Madonna and the naturalistic park of "Le Biancane" (see page: Geopark of the Metalliferous Hills)