MAREMMA and excursions for all alongside donkeys

1° Day Massa Marittima

Arrival in Massa Marittima in the afternoon. It is an ancient Episcopal town of art sitting on the Metallifere Hills, rich in historical and architectural beauty that clearly tells of its glorious past. The town has always had a flourishing economy based on the extraction of minerals. You will enjoy seeing the Medieval part with its steep, narrow lanes that run side by side with the roads in the modern part. Its beautiful typical Tuscan architecture is considered a “pearl”, and its beautiful main square is rich in magnificent, majestic buildings: the Cathedral of San Cerbone, the Palazzo Comunale, the Palazzo del Podestà which is home to the Archaeology Museum where the remains on show from the surrounding territory go from the Paleolithic to the Etruscan age. The first floor is dedicated to the prehistory, and here there are remains found in the nearby grottos on show, as well as life-size models of two real grottos. The Etruscan part is on the second and third floors, and here you can see what came to the light during the archaeological excavation work carried out in the area near Lake Accesa at the end of the last century. The San Pietro all’Orto complex, with the Sant’Agostino cloister, the Candeliere Tower and the Siena Fortress are all in the modern part of the town. Massa Marittima can be described as an important and harmonious Medieval town that you never want to leave and that you always want to come back to. We suggest you go and see the Mining Museum because it is an excellent, true to life copy of life and work down in the mines, since mining was the main source of income for the entire area on the Colline Metallifere. The Museum is like an underground town with tunnels of different lengths where you can see what building materials were used to hold up the various levels and floors, and you can even see the different techniques used for extraction. It is about 700 metres long and is suitable for all ages. Transfer to hotel for evening meal and accommodation.

2° Day Pitigliano - Sorano - Sovana

Breakfast in hotel then departure for Pitigliano, a town that sits on high, tufa rocks, where the houses, also built in tufa, stand proud out of the surrounding bush like a “rampart”, an important and natural fortification. These houses painted in warm colours, the Medieval houses, the solid but extremely light bridges, all give the town a true fairy-tale appearance. Time seems to have stopped in Pitigliano, the town “carved out of the tufa”. Under the town that “you can see”, there is also a very suggestive one that “you can’t see”. From the ground floor in each house you get to the old basements, barns, and stables carved out of the tufa rocks that the houses are built on. Another unique characteristic of the town is the Jewish community with its Synagogue, and in the second half of the XIX century both their economy and population flourished to the point that it was given the name of “ Little Jerusalem”. Transfer to the town of Sorano that also sits on a massive tufa rock and looks down on the valley of the river Lente. Towards the south, in the uppermost part of Sorano, you have the Orsini Fortress, an absolute masterpiece of defense system, a majestic example of Renaissance military architecture that enabled the locals to never be defeated. The arch shaped gate when you enter the town has a heraldic coat of arms on it with rampant lions, roses and a bear in the centre; they represent both the Aldobrandeschi family and the Orsini one that later inherited the fortress. Farther south we have the “Mastio centrale” that sits between the twin ramparts of San Pietro and San Marco where there used to be ancient windmills. The rocks at the north of Sorano are called “Sasso Leopoldino” and are tuff rocks fortified by the Lorena family in the ‘700 that now are a natural balcony with a beautiful view of the plain below and nearby hills. Lunch in a restaurant. Transfer to Sovana in the early afternoon, the ancient capital of the Aldobrandeschi county rich in majestic architecture: the early Christian Church of San Mamiliano (probably the oldest in Sovana), the Church of Santa Maria (XII – XII centuries), with the pre-Romanesque ciborium inside that is the only one of its kind in Tuscany. Sovana is one of the most suggestive historical towns in the Maremma Toscana. Inside the Palazzo dell’Archivio you can admire the beautiful frieze of the majestic Etruscan tomb known as “Ildebranda” that you can see in the nearby Etruscan necropolis. If you keep going along the “via di mezzo” you will get to the Dome in Sovana that dates back to the XI century and is an interesting example of Romanesque architecture. The Etruscan necropolis is of great historical and archaeological value and sits on the rocks and across the valleys that surround the old part of the town, and was discovered in 1843. An enchanting maze of tombs and stones that seem to tell the story of a fascinating civilization that was great for many years but that then came to an end and left proof of its existence that will never die. There are various types of tombs there: low ,tufa ones on the ground, those similar to small houses, those with a gable end and those carved out of the rocks; without a doubt the most famous is the Ildebranda tomb, like a temple with columns and capitals, called after Ildebrando da Sovana (Pope Gregorio VII). Return to hotel, evening meal and accommodation.

3° Day Excursions for all alongside donkeys

Breakfast in hotel then departure for place agreed upon to meet with guide and donkeys. Walking alongside donkeys is a unique and unforgettable experience, and is both a walk in the heart of nature and a way of getting to know yourself better. Donkeys are keen observers of his surroundings, so they help us be more attentive, calmer and less impulsive. Walking brings out the best in us, it helps us learn more about the nature around us and those we are walking with. Donkeys are calm and cautious, they always walk slowly, and spending time with them helps us deepen our love for animals and respect them. This is one of the most wonderful and complete experiences that both adults and children can have, and that will remain with them for the rest of their life. How it is done: Once at the meeting place, the guides will introduce you to the donkeys; each will have a packsaddle with everything you may need for the excursion, foodstuffs and anything else that might come in handy for your adventure. The number of donkeys depends on the number of participants (on average 2 donkeys every 15 people). Before you set off you will be given a brief description of their behaviour and the best way to handle them. Participants will be asked to guide the donkeys and respect them and walk with them in an orderly manner: only in this way can they become true travelling companions. Going trekking alongside donkeys means you become one with the environment in the most basic and natural way.