Valle del Diavolo
From the top of the Rocca Sillana in Pomarance, you can see the entire valley. At sunset, the sky turns pink. It really feels as if you are seeing the soul of the Earth from the sphere of the stars...
Climbing towards the fortress of Rocca Sillana, one of the most important examples of military architecture from the 11th century, is like walking towards another world, still and timeless. A breathtaking view of the Valle del Diavolo, the upper Val di Cecina and a large part of Tuscany, all the way to the reflections of the sea. A valley that is built around a "wild green lung", with the forests of the Riserve Naturali di Berignone and Monterufoli. Arranged on the steps of an imaginary amphitheatre, Pomarance, its seven medieval villages and Larderello, a world Geothermal Energy capital, are unique as well as distinctive in their relationship with the Earth, a "diabolical" Earth, as it is said, but for the most part steaming.
Boiling and blowing as if within hell rises and the damned gurgle in the thick mud, as if at the bottom, the perpetual melee of wrathful agitate.
Still today, you can feel these sensations in the face of natural geothermal manifestations or by visiting the Museo della Geotermia di Larderello, where the screams of an old well bring us in touch with the entrails of the earth. Here, Earth’s Soul manifests, generous in communicating with man.
Tales of past presences. From the Middle Ages to G. Michelucci
Signs of man and his millennial relationship with nature, where the Middle Ages coexist with the future. Villages, fortresses, castles, medieval churches located along ancient roads, tied to agriculture and mining in the area. Pomarance with the 19th-century Via dei Signori, where you can see museum houses, palaces and theatres born during the industrial development of Larderello, an industrial village designed in the ‘50s by Giovanni Michelucci and where the use of geothermal energy passed from Etruscan-Romano spas to today's theory of alternative energy.
Suggesting excellence and innovation - Energy and clean food
Not only innovation but also sustainable gastronomic excellences. Excellent food made using renewable energy: that’s the scope that connects the companies belonging to the Comunità del cibo ad energie rinnovabili and inserted in the Slow Food project Mother Earth.
Communicating with the contemporary - The town goes on stage
Those who are here can’t help but be caught up in a whirlwind of stories: Cittadini in scena in every month of the year, the theatre of the impossible in July with the Festival Volterra Teatro, the community theatre in September with the historic Palio delle Contrade.
In constant dialogue with nature
Take a dip in the waters of the Cecina river, walk on the "green rocks of snakes" with the colours of spring blooms, soak up the forest, discover a tunnel, a bridge, a ghost of the old mines... these are just some of the experiences to be had at the Riserve Naturali dell’Alta Val di Cecina, 7,000 protected hectares surrounding Pomarance.