Selva is a village in

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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, administratively a

frazione 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 the

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 ...

Santa Fiora Santa Fiora is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto, in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Grosseto. Santa Fiora borders the following municipalities: Abbadia San Salvatore, Ar ...

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 ...

. At the time of the 2001 census its population amounted to 100. Selva is about 70 km from

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 ...

and 7 km from

, and it is situated along the provincial road which links Santa Fiora to

Castell'Azzara Castell'Azzara is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Grosseto. It occupies the slopes of the Monte Amiata and was once important for the ex ...

, at the slopes of Monte Calvo, one of the peaks of the massif of

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 A ...

. The village dates back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and it is situated in the ''Bosco della Santissima Trinità'' Natural Reserve. According to legend, the convent of Selva keeps inside a "dragon skull": the monster (actually a

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant ...

) was killed by count Guido Sforza of Santa Fiora in the late 15th century and its skull preserved inside the church.History of Selva
Associazione Culturale per la Selva.

Main sights

* Church of ''Santo Stefano'' (15th century), main parish church of the village,Parish of Selva

CEI CEI may refer to: Companies and organizations * Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think-tank * Council of Engineering Institutions, later the Engineering Council * Cycle Engineers' Institute, a screw thread pattern, see British Stand ...

official website. it was re-built in

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style in 1933.Bruno Santi, ''Guida storico-artistica alla Maremma. Itinerari culturali nella provincia di Grosseto'', Siena, Nuova Immagine, 1995, pp. 223-224. * Convent of ''Santissima Trinità'' (15th century), it is annexed to the parish church and built by 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 ...

family in 1488. It contains several Renaissance and Baroque paintings and frescoes: the most important one is the panel of ''Assunzione della Vergine con i santi Girolamo e Francesco'' by artist

Girolamo di Benvenuto Girolamo di Benvenuto (September 1470 – June 1524) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and son of the painter Benvenuto di Giovanni. Life Benvenuto was born and died in Siena. Learning the basics of art under his father's watchful s ...

. * Church of ''Madonna Addolorata'' (19th century), small church situated in the centre of Selva, it was built in 1828 and consecrated in 1833.

References

Bibliography

* Bruno Santi, ''Guida storico-artistica alla Maremma. Itinerari culturali nella provincia di Grosseto'', Siena, Nuova Immagine, 1995, pp. 223–224. * Lucio Niccolai, ''Santa Fiora. Invito alla scoperta del centro storico e del territorio'', Effigi, Arcidosso, 2009. Frazioni of Santa Fiora {{Grosseto-geo-stub