THE AMIATA, THE SACRED MOUNTAIN

From its sacred woods dating back to the Etruscans, its Benedictine abbey of San Salvatore founded by the Carolingians, its little  Middle-Ages hermitages where St.Bernardino served his novitiate, to  the followers of David Lazzaretti in the 19th century, to the monks of Siloe or the Buddhists of the Rising Light : for everybody THE AMIATA IS THE SACRED MOUNTAIN.
The town of Abbadia San Salvatore rose around the famous Abbey that, since the IXth century controls the via Francigena valley. This is a  strangely shaped structure, rare in Italy,  made by two towers on the façade and by a high presbytery. A forest of thirty-six slender pillars and sculptured capitals dating back to the XIth century, make the Abbey crypt famous all over Europe.
Piancastagnaio with its picturesque Middle-Ages lanes and the remarkable structure of its stronghold Rocca Aldobrandesca, dominates the Sienese side of the mountain. Santa Fiora is one of the most beautiful villages made of stone of the Grosseto side. Some famous terracotta by  Della Robbia family are to be seen in its main church.
We only understand the volcanic origin of this mountain by walking among its beech woods where large blocks of trachyte cover its meadows .Once famous for its quarries, nowadays this land is ideal for beautiful walks and gastronomic itineraries.