Potassa is a village in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, administratively a

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

of the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

Gavorrano Gavorrano is a mountain-side ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto in the western Italy, Italian region of Tuscany, located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Florence and about 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Grosse ...

province of Grosseto The province of Grosseto () is a Provinces of Italy, 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 Grosseto completely ...

. At the time of the 2001 census its population amounted to 160.

Geography

Potassa is about 30 km from

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

and 7 km from

, and it is situated in a plain at the foot of the hills of Monte Calvo and Poggio Moscatello, down the

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...

Sovata Sovata (; ; Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a town in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. Three villages are administered by the town: Căpeți (''Kopac''), Ilieși (''Illyésmező''), and Săcădat (''Szakadát''). In 2004, the village of Săr� ...

History

Potassa was born in the 19th century as an industrial centre related to the mines of Gavorrano. Its name comes from

potassium carbonate Potassium carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white salt, which is soluble in water and forms a strongly alkaline solution. It is deliquescent, often appearing as a damp or wet solid. Potassium carbonate is mainly used ...

(''potassa'' in Italian).Alberto Prunetti, ''Potassa'', Viterbo, Stampa Alternativa, 2004.

Transportation

The village is positioned along the

Via Aurelia The Via Aurelia () is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary.'' 3rd ...

highway and easily reached from the Tirrenica railway line thanks to its own station, as the main railway station of the ''comune'' — for this reason, Potassa is also known as ''Gavorrano Scalo'' ("scalo" means "station").

Geography

History

Transportation

See also