Castellina Marittima: Circular Trails, Alabaster and Wide Horizons

Castellina Marittima combines expansive landscapes with a local history shaped by alabaster, olive growing and rural cuisine. If you are looking for an Italian destination with signposted trails, viewpoints and specific cultural themes, you will find a range of starting points here for planning your trip.

Circular Trails with Wide Horizons

The Percorsi Verdi comprise around 20 kilometres of well-signposted circular trails. They start from the main square in Castellina Marittima. To help with orientation, the municipality provides printable hiking maps, detailed information on the individual trails, as well as GPX and KML tracks. This allows you to examine the various routes more closely before setting out.

The viewpoints along the Percorsi Verdi include views of the Gulf of Baratti, the Piombino promontory, the Tuscan Archipelago, the plain of Pisa and the Apuan Alps. Sassi Bianchi also offers views of the Apuan Alps and the Tuscan Archipelago. The trails therefore combine outdoor activity with changing vistas across coastal, island and mountain landscapes.

Nature Areas and a Short Forest Trail

Le Cave di Piero is a public nature area with tables, benches and barbecue facilities. For a different way to experience the landscape and local history, there is “L’arco e il tempo”: the approximately one-kilometre-long, equipped forest trail leads past stations on human evolution and combines them with the opportunity to try traditional archery.

Alabaster as Cultural Heritage

The extraction of “Bianco di Castellina” alabaster is part of Castellina Marittima’s historical heritage. The central museum site of the Ecomuseo dell’Alabastro preserves archival materials on alabaster extraction methods. The Ecomuseo dell’Alabastro is a multi-part museum offering encompassing Castellina Marittima, Santa Luce and Volterra.

Historic buildings also give the town its distinctive character. The Romanesque Church of San Giovanni Battista is a noteworthy place in Castellina Marittima. The ancient Pieve di San Giovanni Decollato is one of the town’s historic buildings. The remains of the ancient fortress of Castellina Marittima are considered a noteworthy sight.

Olives, Wine and Rural Cuisine

Castellina Marittima has hills cultivated with olives, grapevines and cereals, rows of cypresses and lush Mediterranean maquis. Olives are grown and oil is produced in Castellina Marittima. At the Tenuta del Terriccio, 12,000 olive trees of the Frantoio, Moraiolo, Maurina and Rosciola varieties are cultivated organically across 50 hectares.

The cuisine of Castellina Marittima is rooted in the rural tradition of the so-called “cucina povera”, which is connected with the lives of alabaster quarry workers. Numerous wineries producing high-quality wines helped Castellina Marittima become part of the Strada del vino Costa degli Etruschi. In this way, local food and wine culture brings together agricultural products and the history of alabaster extraction.

More Destinations

More destinations: Guardistallo, Casciana Terme, Crespina, Riparbella, Volterra, Castel del Bosco, Palaia.

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