Grosseto

Infobox CityIT
img_coa =
official_name = Comune di Grosseto
name=Grosseto
region = Tuscany
province = Grosseto (GR)
elevation_m = 10
area_total_km2 = 474.46
population_as_of = March 2006
population_total = 77057
population_density_km2 = 162
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|42|46|N|11|06|E
mapx=42.600
mapy=11.226
frazioni = Marina di Grosseto, Principina a Mare, Montepescali, Braccagni, Istia d'Ombrone, Batignano, Alberese
telephone = 0564
postalcode = 58100
gentilic = Grossetani
saint = St. Lawrence
day = August 10
mayor = Emilio Bonifazi (since May 29, 2006)
website = [http://www.comune.grosseto.it www.comune.grosseto.it]

Grosseto is a town and "comune" in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies at 12 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvional plain, at the Ombrone river.Of the some 75,000 inhabitants of the commune listed in the census statistics, grossly 60,000 live in the city proper: the remaining are distributed in several "frazioni", including Marina di Grosseto, the biggest one, Roselle (cfr. infra), Principina a Mare, Montepescali, Braccagni, Istia d'Ombrone, Batignano and Alberese.

History

The origins of Grosseto trace back to the High Middle Ages. It is first mentioned in 803 as a fief of the Counts Aldobrandeschi, in a document stating the assignment of the church of St. George to Ildebrando degli Aldobrandeschi, whose successor where counts of the Grossetana Mark until the end of the 12th century.It grew in importance with years, owing to the decay of Rusellæ (cfr. infra) and Vetulonia. Grosseto was one of the principal Etruscan cities. In 1137 the city was sieged by German troops, led by duke Henry X of Bavaria, sent by the emperor Lothair III to reinstate his authority over the Aldobrandeschi. One year later the bishopric of Roselle was transferred to Grosseto.

In 1151 the citizens swore loyalty to Siena. When in 1222 the Aldobrandeschi gave the Grossetani the right to have a podestà of their own, together with three councilors and the consuls. In 1244, the city passed again to Siena, together with all the Aldobrandeschi's imperial privileges as the Sienese captured it, and were legally invested with it by the imperial vicar; thus Grosseto shared the fortunes of Siena. It became an important stronghold, and the fortress ("rocca"), the walls and bastions are still to be seen. In 1266 and in 1355, it sought freedom from the overlordship of Siena, but in vain. While Guelph and Ghibelline parties struggled within the city, Umberto and Aldobrandino Aldobrandeschi tried to regain to their family Grosseto. The Senese armies were however victorious, and in 1259 they named a podestà from their city. But Grosseto was freed and the year later fought alongside with Florence in the Battle of Montaperti. The following decades saw Grosseto again occupied, ravaged, excommunicated by Pope Clement IV, again free under a republic led by Maria Scozia Tolomei, sieged by emperor Louis IV (1328) and by the antipope Nicholas V in 1336, until it definitively submitted to the most powerful Siena.

The pestilence of 1348 struck hard against Grosseto, whose population in 1369 had been reduced to some hundred families. Its territory, moreover, was frequently ravaged, as in 1447 by Alfons V of Sicily and in 1455 by Jacopo Piccinino.

The Sienese rule ended in 1559, when Charles V handed over the whole duchy to Cosimo I de Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1574 the construction of a line of walls was begun, which is still today well preserved, while the surrounding swampy plain was drained. Grosseto, however, remained a second rate town, with only 700 inhabitants at the beginning of the 18th century.

Under the rule of the House of Lorraine, Grosseto flourished. It was given the title of capital of the new Maremma province.

Main sights

The Medicean Walls

The building of a new line of walls by Francesco I de Medici in 1574, in substitution of the older ones dating from the 12th-14th centuries, according to his program of making Grosseto a fortress to protect his southern border. The design was by Baldassarre Lanci, and the construction was completed 19 years later, under Grand Duke Ferdinand I. Until 1757 the exterior part was surrounded by a ditch with an earthen moat. There were two main gates: Porta Nuova on the North and Porta Reale (now Porta Vecchia) on the South.

The walls are now used as a public park and walking area.

The Cathedral

The Romanesque cathedral, the main monument of the city, is entitled to the patron St. Lawrence and was begun at the end of the 13th century, by architect Sozzo Rustichini of Siena. Erected over the already existing church of Santa Maria Assunta, it was finished only in the course of the 15th century (mainly due to the unending struggles against Siena).

The façade of alternate layers of white and black marble is Romanesque style, but is almost entirely result of the 16th century and 1816–1855 restorations: of the originary buildings, it retains decorative parts including Evangelists' symbols. The architectural plan is a Latin cross, with transept and apse. The interior has a nave with two aisles, parted by cruciform pilasters. The main artworks are a wondrously carved baptismal font from 1470–1474 and the "Madonna delle Grazie" by Matteo di Giovanni (1470).

The campanile (bell tower) was finished in 1402, and restored in 1911.

Palazzo Aldobrandeschi

Built in the Middle Ages, it was almost entirely rebuilt in the early 19th century. It is now a Neo-Gothic edifice with ogival mullioned windows, and merlons in the upper part of the walls. It houses the seat of the province of Grosseto.

Roselle

Roselle, in Latin Russellae, now a municipal "frazione" of Grosseto, was once the main city in the area. Of Etruscan origin, it was built over a hill that offered protection and commanded all the nearby valley. The extent of its dominion is not clear, but probably at its peak included the most part of Vetulonia territory. The city's splendour was ended forever in 294 BCE, when, according to Livy, the Roman Republic conquered it. After the end of the Roman Empire, in the 5th century CE, Roselle was still the most important centre of the area of what is now southern Tuscany. Its gradual abandon began in 1138, when the diocese seat was moved to Grosseto.

In Roselle Etruscan ruins had been discovered. The ruins include cyclopean walls six kilometers in circumference, and sulphur baths, which in the last century were restored for medicinal uses. There was formerly an amphitheatre.

Others

*Church of "San Francesco".
*Church of "San Pietro", the most ancient in Grosseto.
*Medieval buildings in the "frazioni" of Batignano, Istia d'Ombrone and Montepescali.
*Granducal villa of Alberese, built by the Knights Hospitaller in the 15th century, and later used as residence by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
*Ruins of the Abbey of "San Pancrazio al Fango", between Grosseto and Castiglione della Pescaia, in the Natural Reserve of the Diaccia Batrona.
*Abbey of San Rabano, also in ruins, located in the Parco Nazionale della Maremma. Originally belonging to the Benedictines, it was later a possession of the Knights Hospitaller.

ee also

*Diocese of Grosseto

ources and external links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07039a.htm Grosseto] -Catholic Encyclopedia article
* [http://www.comune.grosseto.it/ Official website] it icon
* [http://www.grosseto-info.com/ Grosseto and the Maremma] en icon