The best city hikes and walks around Parco Naturale della Maremma

With a short film contribution (in German) for the culturally interested viewer, as part of the ARD series „Klassiker der Weltliteratur“ (Classics of World Literature) by and with Tilman Spengler, the life and outstanding work „Divina Commedia“ by => DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265 to 1321) – the great poet in the Italian language and creator of the aforementioned „Divine Comedy“ – are presented. The native Florentine died and was buried in Ravenna. Let us wish him that he has indeed – like his literary alter ego – arrived in heaven and found his most beloved Beatrice there. Anyone who wants to inform themselves in the ARD media library (the German-language film contribution lasts only a quarter of an hour) only needs to follow the link => https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/klassiker-der-weltliteratur/dante-alighieri/ard-alpha/Y3JpZDovL2JyLmRlL3ZpZGVvL2E0YmE3OWQzLTk2NjAtNGUyYS04OTBlLTY2N2E5YmJjNGZlNw

Grosseto's city walls are worth a visit. A kind of circular park is located on the walls, and you can walk around the old town in a wonderful way.

The Cathedral of San Lorenzo, named after the patron saint of Grosseto, is the most important building in the city. As an inscription at the right end of the façade testifies, the cathedral was built starting from the end of the 13th century under the direction of Sozzo Rustichini, who also collaborated in the realization of the façade of the cathedral in Siena. The work, interrupted due to the war between Grosseto and Siena, was resumed around 1340. In the 16th century, a series of interventions were carried out under the Sienese architect Anton Maria Lari inside and on the façade, which was also significantly remodeled during the 19th century.

The church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Grosseto was originally dedicated to San Fortunato. In the 13th century it was given by the Benedictines to the Franciscans together with the adjacent cloister. The church, one of the most important in the city, has a sober façade with a portal characterized by a frescoed lunette, which in turn is surmounted and protected by a wooden tabernacle, above which there is a rose window. The interior consists of a single nave in Gothic-Franciscan style with a gable roof and houses various works of art, among which the famous Crucifix on a panel stands out, created towards the end of the 13th century by Duccio di Boninsegna. Inside there are also frescoes dating from between the 14th and 17th centuries. From the end of the 16th century, the construction of the Medici Walls - which form a promenade around the city of Grosseto - led to a reduction in the size of the Franciscan monastery attached to the church and a consequent reorganization of its spaces. The most important intervention in the building was the addition of the 17th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, with frescoes by Francesco Nasini, while in 1623 the bell tower was rebuilt, destroyed by lightning in 1917 and later rebuilt in style.

Built between the 13th and 14th centuries, Piazza Dante is the centre of Grosseto's old town. Also known as Piazza delle Catene (Square of the Chains), it often hosts concerts and cultural events. The square is home to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. As an inscription on the façade attests, it was built at the end of the 13th century to plans by the Sienese architect Sozzo Rustichini. Inside you can admire the famous work of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with Angels by Matteo di Giovanni (1470) and a wooden cross from the mid-15th century attributed to il Vecchietta. The square also features the 19th-century Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), which houses the Town Council and the Municipal Administration, and the magnificent Palazzo Aldobrandeschi, also known as the Palazzo della Provincia (Provincial Palace). It was built in 1900 according to a design by the architect Lorenzo Porciatti in a neo-Gothic style inspired by the medieval architecture of Siena. In the middle of the square stands the Monumento a Canapone by Luigi Magi (1846): it depicts the Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine (smilingly called "Canapone" by the people of Grosseto) crushing the head of a snake, a symbol of the malaria that threatened the population of the Maremma region.

The city wall is definitely worth admiring. The square itself is less so. It's just an ordinary parking lot.

Porta Corsica is a gate in the south-western part of the city walls of Grosseto. Its name derives from the geographical reference point in that direction, beyond the sea, which the gate overlooks. It is located on the stretch of the city walls that connects the Cavallerizza bastion with the Molino a Vento bastion.

The Church of the Bigi (or Santa Chiara, formerly Annunziata) is a deconsecrated church in the historic center of Grosseto. The building is attached to the Poor Clares Convent, of which it was a place of worship. It overlooks Piazza Baccarini at the entrance to Strada Vinzaglio and partially delimits with its left side the square that opens in front of the nearby Church of San Francesco. Deconsecrated at the beginning of the 20th century, it is used for cultural activities and initiatives.