Parco di Montioni

A vast green area close to Follonica which extends for almost 7000 hectares between the provinces of Grosseto and Livorno. The thick forest is composed of turkey oak and holm oak while the fauna is typical of the Maremma Mediterranean scrub. The current shape of the landscape is due to the ongoing exploitation of the forests for coal production and firewood. The alunite quarries at the centre of the Park once produced alum, an important substance used in leather tanning and as a dye fixing agent, obtained using a strenuous and laborious process. Important archaeological finds of these processes remain, with some dating to the Napoleonic period.