Capalbio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto – Southern coast of Tuscany. Capalbio is located about 150 km south-west of Florence, 210 km south of Pisa and about 45 km southeast of Grosseto.

History

The name derives probably from the Latin Caput Album or Campus Albus (White Cape or Field, respectively), due to the white alabaster stone dug in the area.

Capalbio is known for the first time in 805 AD, when it was donated to the Abbey of the Tre Fontane, near Rome, by Charlemagne. The possession was confirmed in 1161 by Pope Alexander III. Later it was under the Aldobrandeschi family, who were followed by Orvieto, the Republic of Siena and the Orsini, who built the Castle.

Conquered by the Spaniards in 1555. it was assigned to Cosimo I de’ Medici as part of his new Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The city subsequently decayed and the area depopulated due to the presence of malaria.

It became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, becoming an independent comune in 1960. Capalbio is also the place where Buffalo Bill suffered his first defeat.

The town is completely enclosed within a double set of Senese walls, along which extensive stretches of the suggestive patrol bays can still be walked. Capalbio has a medieval town plan, with narrow, curved streets climbing to the top of the hill dominated by the Rocca Aldobrandesca. The double-bay Porta Senese, which is crowned by a tower, is the gateway to the historic centre.

A marbie inscription on the gate commemorates the 1416 restoration of the walls by the Sienese. The road continues past the so-called Arco Santo (Holy Arch), capped by a marble bust of the Emperor Hadrian, and climbs to the Church of St. Nicholas, perhaps dating to the 12th century, standing at the foot of the rocca. The simple facade has an ogival portal topped by an inscription commemorating the enlargement and restoration of the church in 1466.

The interior is a single-bay structure with a rectangular apse and side chapels. The Romanesque capitals with animal and plant motifs and several frescoes of the 15th and 16th century Umbrian school are quite interesting.

Over the centuries Capalbio’s Rocca has undergone continuous modifications which have gradually transformed it into a patrician residence. A square tower with an inclined base rises directly in front of the Church of St. Nicholas. The Collacchioni Palace, built over the old structures of the castle in the early decades of this century, leans against the tower’s north side.

In the palace several rooms complete with their original furnishings can be visited. Among these is the so called Sala Puccini, which preserves an Austrian piano from 1823 which the famous composer himself played. Outside the walls is the small Oratory of Providence.

Getting married in the magic castle of Capalbio is a unique experience which you will cherish for your lifetime

Source : www.wikipedia.com

Distances:

By Train: 2 hours from Fiumicino (Rome) airpot , 3.30 hours from Florence airport, 3 hours from Pisa Airport (train station inside the airport itself).

By Car: 2 hours from Rome , 3 hours from Florence, 2 hours from Pisa.