Massa Marittima

Massa Marittima stands in the mineral-bearing hills of the Maremma, inland from the Tyrrhenian coast. The bishopric of Populonia moved here in the Middle Ages after attacks on the old coastal seat. Its cathedral and civic buildings recall a prosperous commune whose fortunes were tied to the metals of the surrounding country.

Particularly severe outbreaks of plague struck the town in 1348 and 1400. Plague and population decline weakened Massa in the later Middle Ages under Sienese rule. During the war between Siena and Cosimo de' Medici, Spanish forces besieged its fortress, which surrendered in 1554. The town entered the Tuscan state the following year. In the eighteenth century the Lorraine rulers promoted reclamation around Massa, and mining gained renewed importance in the nineteenth century.