Monte Amiata is 1738 metres high and extends into the provinces of Siena and Grosseto, comprising the towns of Abbadia San Salvatore, Piancastagnaio, Castiglion d’Orcia and Radicofani. The well organised tourist reception structures of Monte Amiata make this a popular destination all year round and a perfect base from which to explore the marvels of Tuscany and nearby Umbria and Lazio. From a naturalistic point of view, this region offers ever changing scenery and colours, from snow in the winter to fresh temperatures in the summer.
Monte Amiata (with a summit elevation of 1738 m the highest mountain in the Tuscany region, and the second tallest volcano in Italy) is probably the least known of the major Italian central volcanoes and volcanic complexes. It lies in the southernmost part of Tuscany, close to the boundary with Latium, only a few tens of kilometers to the north of the Vulsini volcanic complex. The area is remote and not as touristically tormented as much of the rest of Tuscany. There are no large population centers within about 50 km from the volcano. The surrounding landscape is densely forested and consists of a series of roughly NW-SE trending ridges and valleys.
Monte Amiata is known for its medieval towns, the gastronomy and for its ski-runs.

On the north-east side it appears to the gentle landscape of Val d'Orcia, while on the east side it closes the landscape of Maremma.

Bagni di San Filippo has a thermal waterfall whose 40 °C water is delightful year round, and especially invigorating in the winter.

Links

A walk in the woods of Mount Amiata
I musei del Monte Amiata
Il Monte Amiata, la montagna toscana, fra la Maremma e il Chianti
Web Ufficiale del Comune di Arcidosso

Monte Amiata - Amiata neve - Il portale ufficiale dell'Amiata invernale
Mappa

Mount Amiata museums

There are some examples of figurative art of the 1300’s, ancient architecture like the medieval castles, the abbeys of the Roman period (Abbadia San Salvatore, and Sant’Antimo), the Sforzesca di Castell’Azzara , the mansion Bourbon del Monte a Piancastagnaio, the renaissance and baroque churches, and the Peschiera at Santa Fiora.
They bear witness to the fusing of civilization and culture in the territory of the Amiata which is included in the amazing historical background of southern Tuscany.
David Lazzaretti, a mystic and revolutionary and the prophet of Amiata, must be remembered in this story. He sacrificed himself in 1878 for religious reasons, and he was opposed to injustice in the world and the decline of the roman clerical order.
Mount Amiata does not have large museums. Instead there is a network of small or very small exhibition places throughout the area. The Mountain Community "Amiata Grossetano", in order to resolve problems of management and at the same time enhance the value of these museums, has launched the Amiata Museum System, part of the Ecomuseum Project of the Amiata-Grosseto area, where the identity of the museums is formed by an appreciation for the environment and landscape together with artistic, historic-artistic and cultural expression.

For the purpose of organisation, the museums are grouped into three types: historic and historic-artistic (the David Lazzaretti Study Centre at Arcidosso, the Art Collection at Palazzo Nerucci in Castel del Piano), demo-ethno-anthropological and nature (the House Museum at Monticello Amiata-Cinigiano, the Ethnographic Museum at Santa Caterina-Roccalbenga, Museum of the Mercury Mines of Mount Amiata in Santa Fiora, Museum of the Vine and Wine in Montenero d'Orcia-Castel del Piano) and environment sites (Visitors Centre of the Fauna Park at Arcidosso).

The Olivastra Seggianese is a particularly hardy and wild cultivar, which grows on the slopes of Monte Amiata in secular olive groves ranging up to 600 meters over the sea level. The plant comes from a particularly robust rootstock: a mountain variety which is well able to resist the low winter temperatures, and this cazracteristic also acts as a natural deterrent to parasitic infestations.

The flora and fauna present particular ecotypes which combine to make the territory unique: the mountain's slopes are wreathed with beech, chestnuts and pine forests, home to rare species, such as the short-toe eagle, the Egyptian vulture, the Lanner falcon and the wolf, as well as many other more common mammals and birds of pray. Various protected areas of the local environment have been created, which operate hand in hand with institutions for study and development to research and communicate information about the natural beauty of the territory.
The Olivastra di Seggiano is an indigenous botanical species found throughout the area of Monte Amiata. This cultivar is above all found in the Province of Grosseto growing between 200 and 650 meters above sea level and concentrated particularly around Seggiano. This indigenous variety of olive tree was presumably introduced by monks from the nearby monastery San Salvatore in the early Middle Ages. Already in the 10th century, the abbot of this monastery mentioned Seggiano as a production region of fine olive oil. The Olivastra Seggianese is largely climate-resistant and thus perfectly adapted for the altitude, which is unusually high for olive trees.
There are probably hundreds of majestic and magnificent trees in Monte Amiata area. Some of the most impressive trees are to be found near Podere Santa Margerita and Podere Santa Pia in Castiglioncello Bandini. The ancient trees grow in wondrous, tangled ways, with trunks resembling characters in fairy tales. Tucked away in the hills above Cinigiano, 9 olive trees have witnessed thousands of years of political unrest, plagues, diseases, varying climatic conditions and changing civilizations.

Fraz. Bagni San Filippo, 23 - Com. Castiglione d'Orcia (SI)

Films set in Tuscany | Le Meraviglie

Le Meraviglie (Alice Rohrwachter, 2014) is a magical realist portrait of a family of beekeepers in rural Italy. The film, which stars Monica Bellucci, was shot in Sorano, Sovana and in Bagni San Filippo, in the province of Siena.

One of the loveliest small villages around San Quirico d’Orcia, Bagno Vignoni has been known for its waters since the Etruscans and later the Romans.
The village of Bagno Vignoni has survived miraculously unaltered through the centuries. The pool with the fabled thermal waters is still in the main square of the village, closed in on three of its four sides by a 1.5 metre high perimeter wall. Some of the buildings that look onto the square, such as the loggia, were designed by the architect Bernardo Rossellino.
Located on an area of flat ground that lies between Colle Vignoni and a meander of the river Orcia, the waters that feed the 16th century pool in Bagno Vignoni emerge from the soil at a temperature of over 50°C.
In the past these waters also powered a series of mills further downriver. Known as the Parco dei Mulini, these mills have been carefully restored by the town of San Quirico d’Orcia and are today open to the public.

Films set in Tuscany | Nostalghia