Casale Marittimo

Feature is its structure semicircular rings descending gently to the sea, matching many stages of urban development. And 'one of the countries of Vai di Cecina that best preserve the system of medieval castle. In the territory were found remains of Etruscan and Romany settlements, some of which finds can be seen in the country.
The hills of Casale were places of Etruscan settlements and several archaeological finds have been made in territorio.Il most important is a tholos tomb, the fifth century BC, removed and rebuilt in the garden of the Museum of Archaeology in Florence. From this tomb arise, inter alia, the two oldest objects alabaster you will notice, probably emerged from workshops Volterra - a patera in a lacrimatoio - also at the Archaeological Museum of Florence. Other exhibits are in museums of Volterra and Cinquantina Cecina. The Roman is a small villa in Botro della Pieve, materials which have been used again in some buildings of the country.
The medieval castle is named in the documents since 1004 and belonged to the accounts Della Gherardesca, which refer to the first documents of sale (in 1004 Gherardo and his wife Giulia gave a church and 13 farms "that are in short Casale" the monastery Santa Maria di Serena in Chiusdino, in 1008 Gherardo of Gherardo was sold houses, farmhouses and masserizie district of the parish of St. John of Casale, and Wilda, his wife, other property in the same district, in a 1092 count Gherardo granted the monastery Montescudaio of a church of Sant'Andrea in Casale).
In fact there were two castles in the area of the same name: Casalvecchio, which remained the only hill southeast of the same name country and Casalnuovo, today's Casale Marittimo. It is not clear what the relationship was between the two castles and how long convissero; oldest documents are undoubtedly refers to Casalvecchio, and so also a famous letter from the Bishop of Volterra, 1344, in which he recounts how the Count Gherardo of Donoratico was sick in the castle of Casale and because of the bad air could not heal until it had been brought elsewhere: "We sent them doctors [...] and the consigliarono the air because of Casale was corrupt and other reasons that if you do not start there, that he was in danger of life and that the second and really 'doctors have also said that illness would not be if it were not campato party. " And 'This is a witness to the early spread of fevers malariche.
Casalvecchio presumably was destroyed in 1363 during a battle between Pisa and Florence, but probably even before it was gradually abandoned in favor of Casalnuovo that, although not higher, it is better ventilated and more healthy.
Between the two castles on Botro della Pieve, was the parish of St. John the Baptist House, which still gives its name to the river and a location. It was the mother of the church around, the only one with baptismal font, and her head were not only Casalvecchio and Casalnuovo, but also Guardistaiio and Montescudaio. Although much had been damaged - indeed: "[...] demolished and almost destructa totum "in the fighting of 1363 and the baptismal font as a result of this war had been transferred to Casalnuovo - it held the title of church and preserved , it seems, even until the middle of the'500. In 1413, when a pastoral visit of the Bishop of Volterra, it was "in totum diruta", that is totally diroccata and only the walls were standing, but was parish and the parish priest had. In 1439 baptisms of all children castles neighbours held "every Saturday at Holy baptismal font in the church of St. John the Baptist in Santo Andrea Casale, as can be seen from a letter from the Bishop of Volterra, which indicates that Sant 'Andrea hosted the baptismal font but have the title of parish. While the castles of Casale were under the political domination of the Republic of Pisa, the church depended on the Diocese of Volterra.
A Casalvecchio resided by about half of the'300 Montescudaio accounts, branch of the family Gherardesca formed at that time in the castle of Montescudaio. A palace or fortress them still existed nell'Ottocento and is named in the dictionary geographic Repetti. The structure of the castle was circular with a port south equipped with antiporti and ramp access and dominated by the fortress. To the north was a tower of sight, still visible, but are not detected other ports. The walls were formed by the same houses they had, and have very thick walls to the outside and only a few windows placed at the top. Inside - as in other medieval - the houses were placed to each other without any rule and without any respect for the development of roads and lack of sufficient air. The castle contained inside not only the houses and cellars, shops, butcher, blacksmith, barber, and the oil furnace, but also the hill-forts and stables for animals (donkeys, swine, chickens) and some garden. In addition there was the church together with the adjoining cemetery and, in addition to building with stables, the stables and warehouses, were the court room in the prisons. Outside the walls remained the source with the washing and drinking trough. The Church of Casalnuovo was named after St. Andrew and is nominated for the first time in 1305.
In 1406, following the conquest of Pisa from Florence, Casale, like other countries in the Val di Cecina, submitted to the Florentine Republic. In 1407 he obtained permission from Florence to form Town, but contrary to what happened in a Montescudaio Guardistallo, could not free himself from the accounts Della Gherardesca-Montescudaio who kept their property in the jurisdiction. The small community is not immediately gave the statutes, but in 1414 he accepted those Montescudaio and Guardistallo and subsequently by 1490 since 1620, its statutes were always those of the other two municipalities.
The sixteenth and seventeenth century lacking news of some interest; centuries are characterized by defence against incursions by Saracen pirates, from the fight against malaria infestava that the coastal plain and went back to the countries from periodic famines and epidemics and social and economic stagnation that in these areas distinguishes the Grand Medici. All these factors have certainly made it difficult living conditions of the population.
In 1551 Casale had 245 inhabitants.
The 1642 is the news that the community decided the fortress walls to protect from pirate raids from the sea. In 1648, in the wake of Montescudaio, Casale was given in feud with Ridolfi in 1738 and went to join the Marquisate of Riparbella, assigned feud to Count Carlo Ginori.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century campaigns poured in a state of extreme poverty and backwardness. Vast lands remained confidential hunting in the woods avanzavano feudal lord. In 1709 "was proposed as it would have been very necessary to equip the occasion of a doctor, given the bad air, and multità sick that often die miserably without experiences." Nevertheless Casale was perhaps best conditions of many other countries since the Targioni Tozzetti, who visited in 1742, he wrote: "modern house is the biggest and most healthy Castle whole Marchesato. The reason is not healthy Only a nearby water fountain good, as well as the situation in a favorable exercise of Collina high, and well ventilated. " In 1745 the inhabitants were 315.
In 1777, with reforms Grand Peter Leopold, began the process of redistribution of land and consequently their centralisation in the hands of some new wealthy families: Casale emerged in the names of Clerks, Sparapani, Mannari and Marchionneschi, as a result have held power in the community throughout the nineteenth century and until the first half of this century. The concentration of land and the spread of the system of sharecropping led to an increase and an improvement in agricultural production. In the nineteenth century still raging malaria, the houses in the country did not exist, the wolves were so abundant that in 1810 817 1833 and twenty years later, in 1854, amounted to 1,070 units, in 1861 the number had risen to 1,174. The gradual reclamation of coastal marsh favoured agricultural development.
In the latter half of the town suffered some important changes due to increasing population in 1854 1872 work started on the construction of the new church, which involved ' killing of a part of boundary wall and the old City Hall to open a gate to the new road. The old church was converted into a city hall. The cemetery disappear under the new bell tower, but in 1855 was inaugurated a new cemetery along the road to Guardistallo. Simultaneously had grown even the village outside the walls and at the beginning of the'900 was arranged the Piazza del Popolo, then square Clerks. The country was taking more or less the present appearance.
In 1862, Casale, until then called "Casale in Maremme", renamed the "House of VaI Cecina" from 1900 is called "Casale Marittimo." In 1936 the number of inhabitants has reached the maximum limit of 1,583, but in the'50s started the process of emigration to crisis pregnancy centers that were in plain rapid development and guaranteed jobs safer, fixed schedules, tasks less heavy than those obtained from the mezzadro in the countryside.
In the early'60s phenomenon of the earth and was at the sharecropping system was disappearing. Especially young people laid down in the plains or emigrated to the cities of northern Italy.
In 1971 the number of residents had dropped to 837. The risk of becoming an "old country" was mitigated only by the fact that many residents risanavano, with money earned outside the houses of the country, supported by modern comforts.
Today Casale has 914 inhabitants. The economy is agricultural and mainly produce wine, oil and cereals, there are also a apicultura of a laboratory furs and several commercial services and catering. The country is well-preserved medieval and awareness for the historic values has meant that some modernisations of the'60s have been removed, such as the coverage of asphalt roads in 1989 was removed rediscovering the old sandstone paved .

From Guide Val di Cecina, edited by Susanne Mordhorst, New Image Publishing