Piancastagnaio has a circular form, once had surrounding wall enclosure with alternating square towers and four gates. The walls and the gates have been almost entirely demolished, with the exception of few lines, but in the highest point of the inhabited area rises still today the mighty Fortress Aldobrandesca. The building has a square shape and high and strongly embanked walls. Two towers rise up from the wall ring, where the largest one, both for its solidity and height, had functions of keep. The other one, placed on the opposite corner, defended the underlying gateway entrance to the city. The whole complex was equipped with a defensive apparatus with projecting corbels and battlements, still almost intact.
An old miners’ path leads to Abbadia San Salvatore.

Weekly market on Saturday.

Comune di Piancastagnaio

Map of Piancastagnaio url

Walking in Tuscany | La Riserva del Pigelleto | Pigelleto Natural Reserve Piancastagnaio

The Pigelleto Nature Reserve in Piancastagnaio, between Siena and Grosseto, extends over a territory of 862 hectares. Pigello is the name the people of Amiata give to the white fir, a majestic tree that can reach heights of 50 m.

The Nature Reserve used to host one of the most important quicksilver mines of Monte Amiata, the Siele Mine, today completely abandoned. The Pigelleto Natural Reserve has been incorporated by the Regional Administration of Tuscany (Regione Toscana) in 1996. It used to host one of the most important quicksilver mines of Monte Amiata, today completely abandoned. The Environmental Education Centre La Direzione is inside the Reserve itself and includes the Visitors Centre, the Environmental Education Labs and facilities for visitors who wish to spend some time in peace and tranquillity.

How to get there by car.
- Cassia SS 2 road to Piancastagnaio; then follow the signs for Castell’Azzara, Santa Fiora and Riserva Naturale del Pigelleto (the signs for the reserve are brown).
- From the Tyrhennian coast: follow the route Pitigliano-Sorano-Castell’Azzara or Grosseto-Arcidosso-S. Fiora-Castell’Azzara; then follow the signs for the Riserva Naturale del Pigelleto (the signs for the reserve are brown).

Links

There are many excursion paths that run through the Nature Reserve of Pigelleto. Some paths are part of the marked trail n° 16 (Saragiolo - Miniera del Siele - Castell'Azzara) and n° 17 (Pod. La Roccaccia - Castell'Azzara) created by the Town of Monte Amiata.

The Sentiero Natura (the Nature Trial) begins at Podere La Roccaccia and ends at the Environmental Education Centre 'La Direzione' for a 2.5 km long walk inside the Reserve. Along the way you will find many information sighs about the animals and palnts. At times it coincides with the trial n° 16 that connects Saragolo with the Siele Mines.
The Sentiero del Tasso (the Yew Trial) is part of Route n° 16 and is almost 2 km long. It takes you into the most beautiful and interesting part of the Reserve. This is why visitors must be accompanied by guides and rules are very stricted. During the trip you will see chstneut tress, beeches, silver firs and fern trees. There are also wet lands created by permant water sources.
The Sentiero del Ponte (Bridge Trial) has been traced by the community of Monte Amiata and is 4 km long. It is inside the Reserve creating an 8 whch then coincides with the Nature Trial. Along hte way there is a break area in an old ruin (podere s. Ignazio) surrounded by beeches.
The Sentiero Ciclabile (Cycling Trail) is part of the route n° 16 and n° 17 and is almost 6 km long. The asphalt roads are restricted to mountain bikes only. It runs through the woods of the Reserve and arrives at the cultivated lands that surround the Reserve. It goes up to Poggio Roccone and then down towards the Siele Mines.

The Siele Mine | Pigelleto Natural Reserve Piancastagnaio (SI)

Mining on Monte Amiata dates back to ancient times: the Etruscans used cinnabar (the mineral that mercury is extracted from) to paint earthenware and frescoes in tombs, digging up to 40 m into the earth to extract it. The largest deposits are located in Santa Fiora, Castell’Azzara, Abbadia San Salvatore and Piancastagnaio.
The history of the Amiata and its people have known exceptional activity from the second half of the XIX century when the discovery of significant deposits of cinnabar transformed the lives of the people of the Amiata, who, until then, were used to “wooden bread and clouds' wine” and that is polenta (corn meal mush) and water.
The beginning of the mining industry brought economic growth to a very poor land, emancipation and social changes.
From the huge cinnabar deposits mercury was extracted, the quicksilver, essential in precision instruments and in the military industry.
The first mines to be opened were those of Siele, in 1866, whose structures are among the most interesting example of industrial archeology immersed in the Natural Reserve of the Pigelletto.
Then it was the turn of the Solforate in 1873, the Cornacchino's in 1879 and at last the ones of Abbadia San Salvatore at the beginning of the XX century.

In modern times, the Siele mine started to be used for industrial ends towards the middle of the 1800s. Siele was a complex site comprising both mines (galleries and shafts) and plants for working the mineral. In the early 1900s, a village grew up around the site, with houses, schools and a church.
After a period of great expansion, also due to orders from the war industry, mining activity ceased in 1973: it was the third largest mine in the world after Almadén (in Spain) and Abbadia San Salvatore.
Today the plant has been cleared up and partially restored as part of Monte Amiata’s historical and cultural heritage.
.