Costa degli Etruschi May 2021 - Sassetta, Suvereto, Massa Marittima

Late on Saturday we decide to stay an extra week instead of going home and in the end we decide to stay in the same apartment pretty much for the same reasons we chose it in the first place, price, outdoor space with view of the countryside and not too far from both Livorno and Piombino.

So on Sunday morning instead of packing up and going home we are in the car and heading for Sassetta. It's a good idea. Sassetta is a tiny but delightful village, quiet narrow streets..... with statues in the local pink marble, every corner has something to discover and admire, there are flowers everywhere, the reddish stone of the buildings with an underlying pink theme gives a soft and delicate air. We go into the church through a back door behind the altar and come out unexpectedly at the front where a naked lady statue is smiling at a young girl sitting on the steps in the early Sunday May morning quiet sending messages on her telephone with the swallows streaking above.

Suvereto has greater pretensions, is a little less pink and there are a few more tourists but it too is a nice place to stroll and also has a nice church, especially the facade. It's bigger than Sassetta too and there are several restaurants preparing for Sunday lunch.

"Da Cinzia" is a takeaway run by Cinzia herself and her mother. Every day there's a small but interesting choice of dishes available for takeaway or to eat under the arches of the narrow vicolo just in front of her shop. We get some panzanella and 6 freshly fried zonzelle and scurry back to the car while the latter are still boiling hot. Cinzia remarked on the fact that they are made with grani antichi and when I bite into the first I understand why. Delicious, almost nutty and ideal with the raw ham we'd bought in the usual shop near the apartment. The car is parked in the only shady leafy corner of the free car park and we have an excellent picnic.

In the afternoon we go to Massa Marittima. Also here free parking is no problem. It's just a short walk to the main square and we get there about a quarter of an hour before the cathedral is due to open. In the meantime we have a look at the unusual frescoes of the Fonti dell'Abbondanza. 

Yes, they are what they look like (!) and the tree has been called of 'fertility' although maybe the original intentions of those who commissioned the artist were not so light-hearted.

The outside of the Cattedrale di San Cerbone is decidedly beautiful. 

The inside is plainer but there's the wooden 14th century crucifix by Bonaventura and a fine “Maestà” by Duccio di Buoninsegna  and some traces of frescoes.

The rest of the irregularly shaped 'square' is occupied by Palazzo del Podestà and Palazzo Comunale as well as the Palazzo Vescovile. From there we wander up one of the narrow streets, past the San Francesco convent towards the Città Nuova from where there are fine views over the Città Vecchia and the surrounding countryside. This is where there is the Torre del Candeliere, which got its name from the fire which was lit at the top. We walk as far as the ex-Clarisse monastery, now a library and then back under the arch near the tower to the main square and the car. Massa Marittima is a small town but well worth a visit. The weather is beautiful, warm and sunny with a breeze, neither hot nor cold.

We drive back to base. The first of our 'extra' days was delightful.