Montieri

Montieri
Country	Italy
region	Tuscany
province	Grosseto  (GR)
Coordinates	43 ° 8 '  N , 11 ° 1'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 7 '55 "  N , 11 ° 1' 3"  E
height	704  m slm
surface	108.34 km²
Residents	1,163 (Dec 31, 2019)
Population density	11 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	58026
prefix	0566
ISTAT number	053017
Patron saint	Beato Giacomo da Montieri (December 28th)
Website	Montieri municipality
Panorama of Montieri

Montieri is a municipality with 1163 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) in the province of Grosseto in Italy .

geography

Location of the municipality of Montieri in the province of Grosseto

Montieri is about 42 km north of the provincial capital Grosseto and 74 km southwest of the regional capital Florence . The place is located in the mountain region of the Colline Metallifere at an altitude of 704 m and covers an area of ​​108 km ² . In the municipality near the Poggio di Montieri the river Merse rises , in the district Gerfalco the Cecina .

The local parts ( frazioni ) Boccheggiano (664 m altitude, approx. 340 inhabitants), Gerfalco (774 m, approx. 80 inhabitants) and Travale (520 m, approx. 80 inhabitants) belong . The main town itself has about 400 inhabitants.

Neighboring municipalities are Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina ( PI ), Chiusdino ( SI ), Massa Marittima , Monterotondo Marittimo , Radicondoli (SI) and Roccastrada .

history

The history of the place goes back to the time of the Etruscans , who in the 4th century BC. Began to set up copper and silver mines in the area. The area belonged to the dominion of Populonia . The Latin name of the place was Mons aeris (copper mountain).

The name Montieri is first mentioned in a document from Count Lamberto degli Aldobrandeschi in 973 AD. In the 12th century Montieri was an important mining area and was under the rule of the Bishop of Volterra . He had a coin called Grosso minted there . Later, the city of Siena tried to take control of the mines as it needed silver for its own coinage. In 1181 Siena first bought a quarter of the territory, in 1326 the place fell entirely to Siena. In 1219 the Breve di Montieri was created , a collection of local laws. The document is important because it was the first to be drawn up in Volgare . In 1242 Giacomo Papocchi, a young miner, was sentenced to amputation of his right hand and left foot for stealing silver. To atone for his sins, he had himself walled up in a cell next to the church and died there 46 years later, on December 28, 1289 . He was later beatified and has since been venerated as the patron saint of the village. In the 14th century, most of the silver mines were depleted and Montieri was in decline.

Only in the second half of the 17th century were new ore deposits ( copper and pyrite ) discovered by the mineralogist Giovanno Arduino , which led to the construction of further mines. The last of them existed until 1994. Since then, Montieri has been in a transitional phase and tries to distinguish itself as a resort with its location in the middle of beech, oak and chestnut forests.

Attractions

Facade of the Chiesa di San Giacomo Apostolo

• Only the towers of the medieval townscape are recognizable: the bell tower between the church and the town hall, the Casa Narducci and the Casa Marzarocchi.
• Chiesa di San Francesco , church in the center, contains the works Immacolata Concezione , Natività , Crocifissione and Gloria di San Francesco d'Assisi coi santi terziari francescani Luigi IX di Francia ed Elisabetta d'Ungheria by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini .
• Chiesa di San Giacomo Apostolo , church from the 13th century, which represents the highest point of the place.
• La buca delle fate , old mine shaft that can be visited.
• Pieve dei Santi Paolo e Michele , Pieve from the 14th century in the town center, contains a wall plaque Madonna and Child (Madonna della Cintola) by Taddeo Gaddi and an Annunciation by Ilario Casolani .

literature

• Emanuele Repetti: MONTIERI (Castrum Monterii, già Mons Aeris) nella Val di Merse. In: Dizionario Geografico Fisico Storico della Toscana (1833–1846), online edition of the University of Siena (pdf, ital.)

Web links

Commons : Montieri  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Montieri municipality

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ↑ Official website of the ISTAT ( Istituto Nazionale di Statistica ) on the 2001 population figures in the province of Grosseto, accessed on July 27, 2013 (Italian)