EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Until the mid-nineteenth century, GROSSETO was a malaria-ridden backwater. The draining of the marshes, however, which was finally effected under Mussolini, has transformed it into a provincial capital for the Maremma. Grosseto was rebuilt after the war with a rash of dreary condominiums and is deservedly undervisited, though you may well find yourself passing through.

Piazza Dante , at the heart of the old town, has a quirky statue showing Leopoldo II protecting Mother Maremma and crushing the serpent malaria under his foot. The adjacent Duomo was started in 1294 but virtually nothing is left to suggest antiquity: the white-and-pink marble facade is a product of the nineteenth century, while the interior has suffered repeated modifications. Its finest artworks are on display in the Museo Archeologico , Piazza Baccarini 3 (Tues-Sun: May-Oct 10am-1pm & 5-8pm; Nov-April 9am-1pm & 4-6pm; Nov-Feb closed Tues-Fri afternoons; L10,000/¬5.16; www.gol.grosseto.it/maam ); most interest is in rooms 24-34, the Museo d'Arte Sacra , with a handful of good Sienese paintings, notably Sassetta's Madonna of the Cherries and a Byzantine Last Judgement by Guido da Siena. San Francesco , just north of the museum, has a few patches of fresco and an early crucifix by Duccio; from here you can walk round the walls , a trip of about forty minutes and one of the more rewarding things Grosseto has to offer.

Most mainline trains on the Pisa-Rome coastal line stop in Grosseto, where you can change for Siena or Orbetello. Head from the station 100m ahead on Via Trieste to the tourist office on the second corner, Via Fucini 43c (Mon-Fri 9am-1pm & 4.30-6.30pm, Sat 9am-noon; tel 0564.414.303, www.grosseto.turismo.toscana.it ); they have information on the whole province, which includes Massa Maríttima , Pitigliano and Giglio . At the next corner, head right on Via Roma for 700m past a Fascist-era post office and piazza into the old town. Central hotels include Appennino , Viale Mameli 1 (tel 0564.23.009, fax 0564.416.134; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48).