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Piombino

Lying between the sea and the inland hill of Petriccio, dominated by the 14th-15th century Rocca, Castiglione della Pescaia belonged up until the 12th century to the Republic of Pisa, to which it owes its origins, a village of fishermen clinging to the hill and connected to the Rocca by a forbidding circle of walls, reinforced by numerous towers and enlarged by the Aragon rulers in the 15th century.

Returning to state road 322 in the direction of Follonica, continue as far as Piombino.

An important port and metal-working center, Piombino has ancient roots, going back to the time when it was Pisa’s port for the mineral mines on Elba. The heart of its defense system was the Rivellino, the 15th century tower from which depart the ruins of the wall to arrive at Piazza della Cittadella, in the upper part of the town, where stands the Renaissance mansion of the Appiani, the Lords of the town. Today the family chapel remains, in the form of a classical tempietto. Interesting features, around the little port of Marina, are the Fountains of the Canals, dated 1248, with;rfiarble mouths in the shape of animals' heads, attributed to Nicola Pisano.

A few kilometers separate Piombino from Populonia.