Scarlino: Castle, Wetland and Mining History

Scarlino combines several clearly distinct aspects: a town history shaped by the Middle Ages, a wetland that can be explored on foot, special coastal paths and traces of former mining activity. This gives you not one uniform sightseeing programme, but a choice of different types of holiday days – from culture and archaeology to walks and a route featuring industrial heritage.

Castle, Town Walls and Local History

Rocca Pisana is the restored ruin of the Aldobrandeschi castle and stands above Scarlino. The town walls were built below Rocca Pisana from the 11th century onwards. The gates, too, reflect different periods in the town’s history: there is the Porta a mare, also known as the Porta pisana, as well as the Porta della fonte, also known as the Porta senese. Another gate was opened in the 19th century at the instigation of Elisa Baciocchi, connecting the town with Puntone. This gate no longer survives today. The Church of San Martino is also part of the historical context. It was built in the 13th century, rebuilt in the Neo-Romanesque style in 1759 and extended in the mid-20th century. At the Riccardo Francovich Territory Documentation Center, the archaeological finds date from the Bronze Age to the 17th century. The hill of Rocca di Scarlino can therefore be understood not only through its visible buildings, but also through the long sequence of human use documented by this collection.

Wetland and Coastal Paths

The Padule di Scarlino offers a different form of exploration. Footbridges and developed paths allow you to take independent walks through the wetland. The formal recognition of the Padule di Scarlino as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar List was completed in January 2026. Alongside the historical themes, this places a landscape area at the centre of attention, one that you can explore independently and without a guided tour. Cala Martina can mainly be reached by sea or on foot or by bicycle via the Via delle Costiere.

Terra Rossa and the History of Mining

Terra Rossa preserves the ore storage silos, the loading gallery and the industrial areas of the former mining terminal. The history of this place goes back to the period when, from 1911 to 1968, mining cableways transported pyrite extracted from the mines to the Terra Rossa harbour terminal. There, it was loaded into the holds of merchant ships. The surviving facilities therefore make visible not only individual buildings, but also point to a former connection between mine, transport and harbour. For orientation, the short route from Portiglioni–Puntone to Terra Rossa is also described specifically. It initially follows the Lungomare Giuseppe Garibaldi waterfront road and then, after approximately 300 metres, continues along an unpaved road. The approximate distance and the change in road surface are part of the route itself and help you place this historical site spatially in a different context from the paths through the wetland or the town centre. For further searches, you can also open [Puntone](Puntone), [Scarlino Scalo](Scarlino Scalo) and [Il Casone](Il Casone).

For the overarching travel overview: Grosseto.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Le Rocchette, Montieri, Civitella Marittima, Arcidosso, Seggiano.