Discover Caldana: Churches, Marble and the Maremma

Caldana stretches across the last Metalliferous Hills before the Maremma plain. This location combines a distinctive hilly landscape with an unusually dense succession of buildings and traces of local history. If you are planning a holiday apartment in Caldana, you will find starting points here for a variety of holiday days: sacred architecture, old palaces, visible quarries and destinations in the surrounding area.

Holiday apartment in Caldana between hilly landscapes and local history

At the end of the borgo stands the Oratorio di Sant'Antonio, a small church dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua. The Casa Canonica dates back to the 13th century. It was the former Pieve di San Biagio, meaning the old church of the village, before the Tempio di San Biagio was built at the end of the 16th century. The historic buildings also include the 16th-century Palazzo signorile Austini. It was the old palace of the Austini, the lords of the castle. In the Convento, the entrance door and the corridor of the upper cells have been preserved as unchanged elements.

Church art featuring local marble

The church of San Biagio in Caldana has a clearly articulated façade: Ionic pilasters stand in the upper section and Doric pilasters in the lower section; a rose window is located at the center. Inside, there is a baptismal font made of Portasanta marble. The church's treasures are displayed in showcases in the Sepolcro. Caldana marble was also used for numerous monuments in the province of Grosseto as well as in Pisa, Siena, Florence, Rome and Berlin. This makes it possible to understand on site how closely architectural history and regional stone are connected.

Quarries and mountains around Caldana

Northwest of Caldana, the Cave “Marmo Rosso” di Caldana quarries are still clearly visible. Natural stone was extracted there until 1975. In Caldana, the pink ornamental stone known as Portasanta was extracted at least as early as the 16th century. Those who would like to combine the character of the landscape with an interest in cultural history can also locate the mountains Monte d'Alma and Monte di Stella, as well as the summit of Monte di Muro, in the area around Caldana.

Destinations around Caldana

There are also various destinations outside the village for varied days of discovery. The ruins of the Abbazia di San Bartolomeo a Sestinga, the Rocca Pisana fortress, the Portus Scabris Museum and the MAGMA Museo delle Arti in Ghisa della Maremma are located in the area around Caldana. For an outing with an interest in nature or families, the Zoo Aquarium Mondo Marino is another possible destination there. The mix of churches, museums, historic sites, mountains and visible traces of stone extraction thus offers several thematic focuses that you can take into account when choosing your accommodation.

When planning a holiday apartment in Caldana, you can arrange your preferred days according to whether the focus should be on churches and architectural history, Caldana marble or destinations in the surrounding area. If you would like to look at more places for planning your trip, you can find Bagno Di Gavorrano, Giuncarico, Ravi and Bivio Di Ravi here.

For the higher-level travel overview: Gavorrano.