What is Castiglione della Pescaia known for?

Promontory fortress begun in the 10th century, enlarged by Alfonso of Aragon and modified by Cosimo I de' Medici, dominating the harbor and old town. Ramsar wetland reserve, the last fragment of ancient Lake Prile, with the Casa Rossa Ximenes from 1765-1768 at its center. Spent summers in the Roccamare pine forest, wrote Palomar there, and is buried by his own wish in the municipal cemetery above the harbor.

When is the best time to visit Castiglione della Pescaia?

May–Sep. May and June bring warm sea and quiet beaches, before the high-summer crowds arrive from Rome and Florence. June through September holds the Bandiera Blu and the Diaccia Botrona stays accessible in the cooler hours. July and August push the coast above thirty; Punta Ala and the harbor fill, and the Rocca above the old town becomes a sunset destination. September is the year's easy month, with warm water and thinning crowds. October through April most beach businesses close. The wetland reserve runs its best birding from October through March, when northern migrants stop in the Diaccia Botrona, and the Etruscan necropolis at Vetulonia is empty.

Where is Castiglione della Pescaia?

Castiglione della Pescaia is a comune in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany region of Italy, about 129 kilometers from Livorno.

How do I get to Castiglione della Pescaia?

From Livorno, Castiglione della Pescaia is roughly 129 km by road.

Tuscany · Grosseto

Castiglione della Pescaia

A Maremma seaside town under an Aragonese castle, with the Vetulonia necropolis behind it, the Diaccia Botrona wetland beside it, and Italo Calvino buried on the hill.

Known for

ROCCA ARAGONESE
Promontory fortress begun in the 10th century, enlarged by Alfonso of Aragon and modified by Cosimo I de' Medici, dominating the harbor and old town.
DIACCIA BOTRONA
Ramsar wetland reserve, the last fragment of ancient Lake Prile, with the Casa Rossa Ximenes from 1765-1768 at its center.
ITALO CALVINO
Spent summers in the Roccamare pine forest, wrote Palomar there, and is buried by his own wish in the municipal cemetery above the harbor.

When to visit

Best · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Guglielmo di Malavalle, secondo lunedì di maggio

Why come

Castiglione della Pescaia sits at sea level on the Maremma coast, north of Grosseto, with a medieval upper town rising on the promontory above the harbor. The site was Roman Salebrone, before that Etruscan and Umbrian, settled because of the lake behind it that the Romans called Portus Traianus. The lake silted up; what remains is the Diaccia Botrona wetland reserve, a Ramsar site since 1991, with the eighteenth-century Casa Rossa Ximenes at its center, built between 1765 and 1768 by Jesuit engineer Leonardo Ximenes during the Lorraine drainage works.

The Rocca above the town began as a tenth-century watchtower; Alfonso of Aragon enlarged it into a fortress in the fifteenth century; Cosimo I de' Medici and the Lorraine made further modifications. Vetulonia, one of the major Etruscan cities, with its necropolis among the best known in the world, lies in the hills behind. Italo Calvino spent summers in the Roccamare pine forest north of town. He is buried in the municipal cemetery overlooking the harbor.

We've been

Feature from our free newsletter

Maremma | The Last Cowboys of Tuscany

Everyone driving from Florence down to Rome crosses the Maremma without noticing, because there is nothing on that stretch to make them slow down. The hills give out. The cypresses stop. What opens up instead is flat open country, wheat and grass running off to a few low rises, the least Tuscan-looking part of Tuscany, a landscape you would call dull if you were being honest and which most guidebooks solve by leaving out.

From the Castiglione della Pescaia letter, July 2026

Read the full feature on anywhereitaly.com

What to see

Rocca Aragonese
Castle on the promontory above the harbor, 10th-century watchtower core enlarged by Alfonso of Aragon in the 15th century, modified by Cosimo I and the Lorraine.
Riserva Naturale Diaccia Botrona
Ramsar wetland reserve southeast of town, the last remnant of ancient Lake Prile, with bird-watching hides, pink flamingos and white herons in season.
Casa Rossa Ximenes
Hydraulic structure built 1765-1768 by Jesuit engineer Leonardo Ximenes for the Lorraine drainage; now multimedia museum of the Diaccia Botrona reserve.
Vetulonia
Etruscan archaeological area in the hills east of town, with one of the best-known necropolises in the ancient Mediterranean, rediscovered by Falchi in the 1890s.
Punta Ala
Pine-fronted beach resort 15 km north on the promontory of the same name, with high-end marina, golf course and Roccamare pine forest.
Tomba di Italo Calvino
Municipal cemetery on the hill behind the harbor where Calvino is buried; visitors leave a pen at the grave.

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Living here

Population 7,121
Commuter belti
Pharmacy in town
Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 2 h 6 min drive
Regional capital Firenze, 2 h 50 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 4 m
Population: 7,121
Surface area: 209.28 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Livorno

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.

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