Castel del Piano is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) of

Province of Grosseto The province of Grosseto ( it, links=no, provincia di Grosseto) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Grosseto. As of 2013 the province had a total population of 225,098 people. Geography The Province of Gro ...

in the

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, central Italy. Castel del Piano-2

History

The area of Castel del Piano is known to have been inhabited in prehistoric times, but the town itself is mentioned for the first time in a document from 890 AD. From 1175 to 1321 it was a possession of the

Aldobrandeschi The Aldobrandeschi were an Italian noble family from southern Tuscany. Overview Of probable Lombard origin, they appear in history as counts in the 9th century. The first known count was Hildebrand II (857). Their possession extended to what i ...

family. After the fall of the

Republic of Siena The Republic of Siena ( it, Repubblica di Siena, la, Respublica Senensis) was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It existed for over 400 years, from 1125 to 1555. During its e ...

, it became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Government

''Frazioni''

The municipality is formed by the municipal seat of Castel del Piano and the villages (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'') of Montegiovi and Montenero d'Orcia.

List of mayors

Culture

The city is divided into four ''contrade'' (quarters) which take part in a

palio Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a ''comune'' against each other. Typically, they are fought in costume and commemorate som ...

held every 8 September. The palio was raced for the first time in 1402. The contrade are: *Borgo *Monumento *Poggio *Storte

Main sights

*Chiesa della Propositura (15th century church) *Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie Madonna col Bambino (Castel del Piano)

External links

Southern Tuscany - Map It Out!
Useful travel information and updated events in Castel del Piano and Southern Tuscany Cities and towns in Tuscany {{Grosseto-geo-stub