Casket of memories

I come back here, after a lifetime, and I find this little group of houses splashed green by the shutters. I enter the country. The little square decorated with holm oaks appears before me and immediately the memory of my childhood hits me in the chest, powerful and very sweet. You played the tambourine in this square. Shouts, laughter, images that resurface now as in a black and white film. Suddenly, people everywhere, talking, eating, dogs wagging their tails, vendors of delicacies: nobody stays at home on 8 September, for the Festa del Diotto. Sigh.

I continue to the Casa del Camerlengo and the carved skull reminds me of the ancient prison. From the clock tower I go down to Piazza del Popolo, images of old carts, Etruscan cippi like cannonballs, Homer’s butcher’s shop and bone splinters of ox that strike me, shattered by his knife. I smile. I was a young man at the time, and I ran for these wrinkles that intertwine within the walls of the Castle. Wrinkles on which I now walk slowly, and which are reflected on my face in a network of memories.

“Casale, hill country” this melody is still in the air, now as then. “There is a group of cottages above a very pretty location. You can see the blue sea, you can see mountains and seas, the air is all a whisper of songs and arcane sounds….”.

Placido Dino Narsetti
(Class of 1928. Emigrated to the north, but Casalese by birth and in soul)

A medieval village between past and present

Casale Marittimo stands on a hill from which you can enjoy a spectacular view of the worked countryside, the coastline, the nearby sea and the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. Among the cobbled streets that wind up in the historic center, the perfectly preserved stone and terracotta buildings, it seems that time has stopped: it is the medieval village, among the most beautiful in Italy, Orange Flag of the TCI strong>. The remains of the ancient castle, the semicircular ring structure of the various walls and a series of buildings bear witness to the passage of different eras.

Outside the village some paths lead to sites of environmental historical interest. Of the famous Etruscan presence is the circular Tholos tomb and, in the locality of Casa Nocera, a house of considerable size and a necropolis with a complex of burials to which the two full-relief statues of the so-called warrior princes belonged. The Roman period is marked by the remains of two ancient villas. The green hills are ideal for relaxing walks. The territory is crossed by the Etruscan Coast Wine Road which favors the encounter with white and red wines of great value, to accompany the flavors of gastronomic production.

Tourist Information

Proloco
Casale Marittimo
(from 15 June to 15 September)
San Sebastiano 1
+39 0586.1880769
prolocalemarittimo@gmail.com;

casalemarittimo@costadeglietruschi.eu

Casale Marittimo Municipality