Manciano (GR)

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Comune di Manciano
Coat of arms of Comune di Manciano
Municipal coat of arms

Location of Manciano in Italy
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Tuscany
Province Province of Grosseto (GR)
Mayor Rossano Galli
Elevation 444 m (1,457 ft)
Area 372.04 km² (144 sq mi)
Population (as of 2004-12-31)
 - Total 7,207
 - Density 19/km² (49/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates 42°35′20″N, 11°31′01″E
Gentilic Mancianesi
Dialing code 0564
Postal code 58014
Frazioni Montemerano, Saturnia, Poggio Murella, Poggio Capanne, S. Martino sul Fiora, Marsiliana
Patron St. Leonard
 - Day November 6
Website: www.comune.manciano.gr.it

Manciano is an Italian town and comune in the southern part of the (Tuscan) province of Grosseto. It has a population of c. 7,000.

Cascades from the hot springs at Saturnia.
Cascades from the hot springs at Saturnia.

Manciano is 18 km (11 mi) SW of Pitigliano and 40 km (25 mi) NE of Orbetello.

[edit] History and main sights

Manciano was once a fairly important market town for the area of the Albegna and Fiora valleys, with a stronghold already recorded in the twelfth century. A brief occupation by Siena (1419‑1455) left the town an imposing fortress built around 1424.

The most important site in the comune is Saturnia, an old Etruscan town with medieval walls, remains of a Roman road, and best known for its thermal springs dating to the Roman period and still in use today. The comune is further known to students of Late Antiquity as the place where the famous silver platter of Ardabur Aspar, consul in 434, was found (in the Fosso Castione, a creek near Marsiliana).

Torre di San Lorenzo, Montemerano
Torre di San Lorenzo, Montemerano

The densly built town centre of the frazione Montemerano, crowned by its leaning Torre di San Lorenzo, is contained within its ancient walls. Montemerano became a power center of the signori dei Baschi, who dominated the comune. The thirteenth-century church is dedicated to San Lorenzo; frescoes remain on its walls, and a polyptych by the Sienese painter Sano di Pietro. At a short distance, in open countryside, is the church of the Madonna del Castuzzo.

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[edit] References