Roccalbegna and Monte Amiata: Village and Mountain

Roccalbegna is a small hill village about 15 minutes by car from our cottages. It has the remains of a fortress on 'the rock', a church with work by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, a few useful shops and a savoury biscuit you will struggle to find anywhere else. Monte Amiata is the extinct volcano that rises over this whole corner of Tuscany, with extensive beech and chestnut woods, an iron cross on the summit and a ring of old villages on its slopes. Both are worth a morning or afternoon visit. Neither is crowded.

Looking across the valley from the terrace at Albegna Cottage, Podere Sant'Angelo

Roccalbegna, the village 15 minutes away

Fewer than a thousand people live in Roccalbegna, at about 520 metres above sea level in the upper valley of the river Albegna, which gave the village its name. Above the houses a rock rises some 60 metres, and on top of it the Aldobrandeschi family built a fortress in the 13th century. A stretch of wall is still standing. Later the village belonged to Siena, and the Cassero Senese, a 13th-century guard post, was restored in the 15th century under Sienese rule.

The way up to the Cassero is steep and partly on stone steps, so wear proper shoes. The view over the valley makes the walk up worthwhile.

In the main square, the church of Santi Pietro e Paolo is Romanesque-Gothic, from the 13th and 14th centuries, and holds work by Ambrogio Lorenzetti from around 1340. Small churches are not always open, so if you find the door shut, ask in the village. The former Oratory of the Crucifix is now a small museum, and its best-known piece is a painted cross by Luca di Tommè from about 1360.

Roccalbegna is also where we send guests who have forgotten to buy groceries. There are a couple of general stores, a butcher, a chemist's and a cash machine, and you can hire e-bikes in the village if you want to explore further. For a proper supermarket you need Arcidosso, about 30 minutes from us.

Roccalbegna and the rock above it

The biscuit and the bonfire

The village is known for its savoury biscuits flavoured with aniseed that resemble a pretzel, and every August there is a festival built around them. You can find these biscuits in the shops in the village or at the Sapori & Saperi bakery on the road to Grosseto in nearby Vallerona.

If you are here in late November, the Focarazza takes place on 24 November in the nearby hamlet of Santa Caterina. It is an old fire ritual in which people compete to pull a blackened wooden trunk out of a bonfire to carry back to their area of the hamlet.

Monte Labbro, a small summit with a strange history

Monte Labbro is 1,193 metres high and stands in a nature reserve close to Roccalbegna. On the top are the ruins of a tower and a church built in the 19th century by David Lazzaretti, a preacher known as the prophet of Amiata, who founded a religious movement here. There is also a cave with an altar. The mountain is limestone, unlike the volcanic Amiata beside it, and there are wide views across the Amiata massif. You reach the top by a dirt road and then a footpath through woodland. The Monte Amiata wildlife park is in the same reserve, you’ll find a bar with a trattoria here in season. For walks that start from our door, see our walks page.

Monte Amiata, the old volcano

At 1,738 metres, Monte Amiata is the tallest mountain in this part of Tuscany. It is an extinct volcano, and beech and chestnut woods grow almost to the top. On the summit stands a 22-metre iron cross, ordered by Pope Leo XIII, destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt in 1946.

The seasons change what you do there. In summer it is cooler than the valleys, and people go walking and look for mushrooms. Spring and autumn bring the colours of the woods, and in winter there is a small ski area. A well-known hiking loop runs around the mountain.

The villages on its slopes are worth a stop too: Arcidosso, with one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the area, Santa Fiora, Abbadia San Salvatore, Castel del Piano and Seggiano, whose olive oil has DOP status.

How we would spend two days

Day one: Roccalbegna in the morning while it is cool, then lunch at one of the places on our eating out page, and Monte Labbro in the afternoon if the sky is clear. Day two: drive to Arcidosso and look round the castle, then go on to the summit of Monte Amiata or into the woods, depending on the weather and your legs. Keep one evening free at the cottage. There is very little light pollution here and the Milky Way is clear above the house.

It takes about 40 minutes to drive to the summit from Podere Sant’Angelo, there’s a 10 minute walk to the cross from the car park. You can get something to eat at Le Macinaie and Prato della Contessa.

If you would rather go the other way, Saturnia is 25 minutes from us and the Etruscan hill towns are about 40 minutes. Both fit neatly into a day.

A quiet base for both

Podere Sant'Angelo has three one-bedroom cottages, each with its own garden and valley views, at 700 metres above sea level. If Roccalbegna and Amiata are on your list, see the cottages, or read why a quiet rural base suits this part of the Maremma. Planning the journey? We have written up how to get here and when to come. Our thoughts on slow travel in southern Tuscany are worth a read too.