An area characterised by the interaction between man and nature
The presence of medieval settlements and modern agricultural buildings and mines give the Montioni park, in Val di Cornia, a unique complexity, deriving from the continuous interaction between man and nature: activities related to the extraction of alum (used in ancient times for tanning and fixing dyes on fabrics and for its haemostatic properties) and forestry operations (wood, coal, cork) have left numerous, still clearly visible, signs on the territory.
The alum deposits, have been mined since the 15th century and, above all, in the early decades of the 19th century.
It was in this period that the Princes of Piombino, Felice and Elisa Baciocchi, Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, ordered that a mining village called Montioni Nuovo be built.
Moreover, since the 19th century, the forests of Montioni have been a source of coal for the blast-furnaces of Follonica and for this reason they have been subject to deforestation.