Castell'Azzara is a ''

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) in the

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 Gros ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, located about southeast of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and about east of

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the m ...

. It occupies the slopes of the

Monte Amiata Mount Amiata is the largest of the lava domes in the Amiata lava dome complex located about 20 km northwest of Lake Bolsena in the southern Tuscany region of Italy. It is located within the provinces of Grosseto and Siena. Geology Mount Am ...

and was once important for the extraction of

cinnabar Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and ...

. It was first under 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 ...

, and then part of the

Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last mem ...

County of Santa Fiora The County of Santa Fiora ( it, Contea di Santa Fiora), also known as State of Santa Fiora ( it, Stato di Santa Fiora, links=no) was a small historical state of southern Tuscany, in central Italy. Together with the county of Sovana, it was one of ...

until 1624.

Main sights

*''Rocca Aldobrandesca'' (Castle). Of the original complex the palace and the watchtower remain. *Church of ''San Nicola'', with some Renaissance parts. *Church of ''Madonna del Rosario'', including a Renaissance chapel and frescoes in the apse. *''Villa Sforzesca'', built by the Sforza in the late 16th century Nearby, in the frazione of

Selvena Selvena is a small hill-town, population 578, Istat2001 census in southern Tuscany, Italy. It stands at an altitude of above sea level some west of Castell'Azzara; administratively it falls within the ''comune'' of Castell'Azzara. History The ...

, are the ruins of Rocca Silvana, a fortress of the Aldobrandeschi.

References

External links

Official website
* Associazione Pro Loc
Castell'Azzara
Cities and towns in Tuscany {{Grosseto-geo-stub