Tuscany · Grosseto
Santa Fiora
An Aldobrandeschi and Sforza mountain borgo on Monte Amiata at 687 meters, holding one of the world's largest collections of Della Robbia terracotta.
Known for
DELLA ROBBIA
One of the world's largest collections of Andrea della Robbia glazed terracotta, commissioned by the Sforza counts between 1480 and 1495.
PESCHIERA SFORZESCA
Sixteenth-century walled pool at the source of the Fiora river, built by the Sforza counts as a private fish reserve under a hilltop chapel.
MONTE AMIATA
Extinct volcano of southern Tuscany, beech and chestnut forests on the slopes above Santa Fiora, source of the Fiora and Albegna rivers.
TOSCANO
The commune lies inside the Toscano IGP production zone.
When to visit
Best · May–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Flora, Lucilla, Eugenio e compagni, 29 July
Why come
Santa Fiora sits on the wooded southern slope of Monte Amiata, forty kilometers east of Grosseto. The Aldobrandeschi held the hill from the eleventh century, walling the borgo around their castle; through the late Middle Ages and Renaissance the town passed to the Sforza branch that produced the Sforza-Cesarini, Counts of Santa Fiora. The upper part of the borgo keeps the castle and the old walled core, while the parish church and the spring-fed pool sit lower, closer to where the Fiora rises. The Sforza left their mark in both directions: religious patronage in the terracotta commissions for the church, and practical engineering in the walled fish pool built over the river's source, a chapel standing beside it.
The Fiora leaves the town under the counts' pool and runs the rest of its length down through Maremma to the sea. The place reads as a single family's imprint worked into stone, water and clay across five centuries, upper fortress and lower spring both answering to the same patrons.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Santa Fiora’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
What to see
Pieve delle Sante Flora e Lucilla
Parish church founded before the year 1000 and rebuilt in the thirteenth century. Inside, Andrea della Robbia's Baptism of Christ, Coronation of the Virgin and a pulpit relief of the Last Supper.
Peschiera Sforzesca
Clear water holding carp and trout inside the walled enclosure, the small Chapel of the Madonna delle Nevi standing alongside.
Castello Aldobrandesco
The original walled core of the borgo, begun in 1082, later serving as residence of the Sforza-Cesarini counts.
Chiesa della Santissima Trinità
Sixteenth-century church on the lower edge of the borgo, a simple stone façade over an interior holding a further terracotta relief.
Fiume Fiora
River rising at the pool below the castle, running 78 kilometers through Maremma to the Tyrrhenian at Montalto di Castro.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 2,490
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 2 h 51 min drive
- Regional capital Firenze, 2 h 27 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 687 m
- Population: 2,490
- Surface area: 63.45 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near Santa Fiora
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Pitigliano
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Radicofani
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