포마랑스‬에서 가장 멋진 ‪14‬개의 동굴

The majestic and powerful fortress was built on the highest point of the city. Today it is used as a state prison.

Perched on a rocky spur in the Cecina valley, the Rocca di Berignone, also known as the Bishops' Castle or Torraccia, is a place that smells of history and legend. Already mentioned in 896, it was a bastion of the episcopal power of Volterra, a refuge and symbol of resistance in the struggles against the Municipality. Besieged, rebellious, conquered by the Sienese in 1399, it then began its slow decline. Today, its imposing ruins emerge among the woods of Berignone, silent witnesses of a tumultuous past, framed by a landscape that still retains a wild and fascinating aura.

The small, medieval hamlet of Querceto, dating back to 1082, is located on Monte Aneo at an altitude of 260 m above the Cecina River. Querceto means "oak forest" and can only be reached via a narrow, winding path. The ascent and descent are challenging and are a great destination for racing cyclists who love altitude.

Worth a visit at any time of year.

Querceto, a delightful hamlet in the municipality of Montecatini Val di Cecina (province of Pisa), boasts an ancient castle in the center of the village. Built in the 16th century, the current building has been owned by the François family, originally from Haute-Savoie, for over 120 years. The castle can still be visited today: wine tourism tours are often organized.

A fantastic place to unwind…

Very worth seeing, you have to see it

Medieval documentation reports the area where the castles of Rocchette and Cugnano stood, with the name of "Piastraio" and probably refers to the territory delimited to the NW by the Milia stream, to the south by the Fosso Riotorto and to the east by the Poggio di Santa Croce. Some studies report around 90 mineral extraction points in this area, exploited during the medieval period, including sinkholes, mine entrances, fields and mining quarries. The mining area of the Rocchette castle is represented by sinkholes that surrounded the site, which are still recognizable today among the vegetation together with slag dumps and trenches. Presumably the mineralizations present in the deposits were: Galena argentifera, Chalcopyrite, Blenda, Tetrahedrite and Pyrite, to obtain mainly from their fusion: silver, copper, iron and lead. The remains of the mining castle are located on a 450 m hill, separated by a ditch from the southern slope of Poggio Trifonti. The excavations carried out from 1992 to 2001 by the University of Siena brought to light traces of settlements and a mineral processing area dating back to the 10th century. In the summit area, the remains of a wall where the noble part of the castle was probably located can still be seen, while around there are traces of other buildings consisting of the ruins of semi-rock structures, which belonged to the most ancient configuration of the town. The castle was surrounded by defensive walls around 1300 and numerous buildings were built, after Massa secured dominion over the castle itself and the mineral resources of the area. rocchetteThe reconstruction is also supported by an ancient fourteenth-century seal preserved in Florence at the Bargello Museum, where the rock mass on which the 5 gates, the 2 towers and the walls that surrounded it are perched are recognisable. The site was abandoned in the first half of the 15th century and now remains an evocative place not only for its history, but also for the superb panorama that opens up to the sea and the islands of the Archipelago.