Suvereto

A KNIGHT’S DREAM

Suberetum, A. D. 1201

The battle was arduous, but we won. My army defeated these devils of the Saracen pirates, who attacked from the sea. They killed my people, ravaged my country, but the unbridled lion of my banner roared victorious in the evening. I was wounded, however, and with a broken sword and an exhausted spirit, I wandered for days in the woods of Montioni, until I dropped almost dead on the banks of the Redigaffi, in the Molini Valley right where the water moves powerful mills.

A miller, after having found me and brought me back to life, led me to the next mill, where a blacksmith forged an unbreakable sword for me. Grateful to my benefactors, I rode for a time back to the village. I crossed bright vineyards, olive groves, and swaying fields of golden wheat. It was then that I looked at my land with new eyes. So many times before I had traveled across her, but only then did I really see her.

Arriving at the turreted walls, still seeing her beauty I crossed the Porticciola gate. My subjects have brought me in triumph, like a hero. Generous people, mine, strong, independent. Mindful of what has been received, I have granted them the Charta Libertatis, making Suvereto the first free community in Alta Maremma.

I am Ildebrandino VIII degli Aldobrandeschi, and I am proud of my people. For these people, I have to confess, I would die for a thousand more, a thousand times.

A MEDIEVAL JEWEL THAT EMITS THE AROMA OF MEDITERRANEAN SCRUB AND GOOD WINE

Suvereto is a village suspended between sea and hills, immersed in the scent of the lush Mediterranean scrub. The name comes from the cork tree, once widespread. Now it has olive trees: centenarians with twisted, gnarled, and wrinkled trunks. The village is a treasure trove of the past: the walls, the cobblestone streets, houses, and shops of the color of the local stone, the red and grey roof tiles, the fortress, churches, and historic palatial buildings.

From the ancient tower of the Town Hall the Elders were summoned for the assembly, on the veranda, judgments were issued. Once a village of blacksmiths, cork-makers, carpenters, charcoal burners, and taxidermists, with workshops that preserve the old traditions. The past comes alive again in the present – day festivals, in the memory of miraculous events, in the history of Suvereto; the first free municipality of the Maremma.

In addition to history, nature and work are the protagonists: in the countryside, farms produce a fine oil and a wine that has received DOGC recognition. Along the Wine Road, which crosses this territory, you can encounter the many nuances of the numerous wine cellars, often with interesting and unusual architecture. In the Montioni Natural Park, with its dense native vegetation and live wild species, you will fi nd evidence of times gone by.

TOURIST OFFICE

SUVERETO

Via Magenta

Tel. +39 0565.829304

+39 340.1872019

ufficio.turistico@comune.suvereto.li.it;

suvereto@costadeglietruschi.eu