Seggiano lies at the foothills of Amiata Mountain. The “ Madonna of Charity” Sanctuary – one of the weirdest and most interesting religious monument of Amiata area – first appears among olives when approaching Seggiano. This sanctuary is the only one among Senese architecture which dates back to the late 1500s and also has some of the “mittleuropean” baroque features. Its construction started in 1558; it was ended towards 1603 after a long and terrible starvation. The exterior, with its complex and very rich façade and a four segments brick cupola, is very evocative. Closer to the village there is the little St.Rocco church, built in 1486. The one-room interior has truly interesting frescoes on which some ancient soldiers of bygone times left their signatures; never has a vandalic act been more propitious. S.Bartholomew Church stands out in front of the neo-gothic Town Hall. It was built during Middle Ages, and remodelled according to medieval style during the 1930s. It has a Barolomeo Bulgarini’s polyptych representing the “Virgin on the throne with the Child and the Saints Michael and John the Evangelist”. Further up is the Corpus Domini Church, also dedicated to St.Bernardino of Siene. Truly interesting significative is a “Madonna and Child” a picture dating to late 1300s and a reliquary belonging to S.Bernardino. From Seggiano up to Potentino Castle, through the famous Olive Valley, there is a road with a wonderful view of the village and the large proportions of Amiata Mountain. The Castle is surrounded by growing fields and it is closed to visitors. At a few steps there are the Convent of Colombaio ruins, the place where St.Bernardino spent his novitiate.
CASTIGLIONE DELLA PESCAIA (Grosseto)
