If we follow the coast from Livorno to Piombino, we find about halfway the town of Cecina. Here we are near the centre of what once was the mining area of the Etruscan empire. Everywhere at this coastline and the lands behind, we are reminded of the Etruscan mining industry and metal trade.

Here at the coast of Etruria, you can be one with the elements, throw away the layer of stress and dream of the once powerful and mystical land of the Etruscans. Who were they where did they come from and where did thy go to? We don't know! This gives, travelling around these parts, an extra dimension.

Although in Cecina itself, you don?t find so many reminders of the Etruscans, more in the surrounding areas, but it probably was one of the seaports of Etruria. Cecina rises on the left bank of Cecina River and is an important agricultural and industrial centre.The town is well known for its bathing tourism and different artisan activities.

In Roman times a consul named Albino Cecina (probably descending from an ancient Etruscan family) ordered the building of a villa near San Vincenzino, today known as Villa Albino Cecina.The remains of the villa prove to us the ancient roots of the town.

If you read Umberto Eco's "the name of the rose", you know, that a great part of medieval Italian politics were influenced by the rivalry of the three major religious streams in those days; the Dominican?s, the Franciscan's and the Benedictine's.

In this medieval period the "Val di Cecina" was a centre of the Benedictine order. They founded the monasteries in Bibbona, Montescudaio, Monteverdi and others. The religious order stimulated agriculture, (mining) industry and trade; especially the lumber trade did very well in this wooded area.Under their reign the castles of Riparbella, Montescudaio, Guardistallo and Bibbona acquired importance thanks again to the availability of economic resources, like the lumber.

There is not much documentation about the history of the town itself, from the Roman Age to the nineteenth century and also no other reminders (like castles, palazzo's etc.). Cecina is considered as a modern town, whose development as an urban centre starts halfway the nineteenth century.

In 1852 the Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany started with a plan to make Cecina and the surrounding area ready for agricultural industry. The Grand Duke started in that way the economic and urban growth of the area until today.

In 1861 Cecina was added to the Reign of Italy by the King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoia. The place name of Cecina was quoted by the famous poet Dante Alighieri in the "Divina Commedia", the renaissance masterpiece. In this book he wrote, that the borders of the Maremma were between Cecina and Grosseto.

Cecina with around 26.000 inhabitants is a nice place to stay and from here to investigate the surrounding areas. It is a typical holiday resort with beautiful beaches and a marine harbour.

Among the most important monuments in and around Cecina we point out:

• The "Parco Archeologico di San Vincenzino".
• The "Villa Albino Cecina".

For the lovers of sport and nature, there is the "Macchia della Magona di Bibbona"

The "Macchia della Magona" is a wide forest complex in the Common of Bibbona. It occupies a surface of approximately 1600 hectares along side the "Coast of the Etruschi". Before well known for its ironworks, the "Real Magona di Cecina", it stopped all its production and is nowadays only a resort and nature park. The local tourist agency created sixteen "trails" through the "Macchia della Magona I Bibbona", up to 40 kilometres long for trekkers, horse riders and mountain bikers. In the "Macchia della Magona de Bibbona", you can find local flora and fauna, like the Mediterranean orchid and types of mushrooms and flowers, you cannot find anywhere else. To testify for its value and importance the "Macchia della Magona" is classified as "biotipo" by the C.N.R. (National Council of the Searches).

Cecina Events

Among the most interesting celebrations taking place in Cecina, there is the "Targa Cecina" organized at the end of the summer.During the celebration there are a parade and a horse race.

For more information visit:

• Comune Cecina