AN UNPOLLUTED NATURE TO BE DISCOVERED AMONG THOUSAND EMOTIONS!
A desert 10-km long beach in the heart of the purest Maremma.
A millenary pinewood full of holm-oaks, cluster pines, junipers, brooms and tamarisks, which was the scene of huntings and hermitages in the Middle Ages. The sea, which was awarded the European blue flag, sinks gradually and offers the bathers more safety.
This unpolluted paradise is always protected and available to everyone and these are the places surrounding the Residence Hotel Cantiere Navale Donoratico.
BUT WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE DUNE BEACH AND THE PINEWOOD OF THE DONORATICO COAST?
The special things are a lot, in particular for those, who don't believe in miracles. Because what you can still observe today is exactly one of the most surprising miracle of the nature: the evolution.
In fact a sandy shore is one of the most unfavourable environments for the vegetable life. The sand is a structure-free substrate with a high salt content and it is always subject to the waves and to the sea breezes rich in saltiness. So this is a true hell for the plants but, to survive in such unfavourable places, nature has thought up some clever strategies. The psammophytes or sand plants grow first at a distance of few meters from the seashore, because they are special “no-limit” weeds able to survive in extremely salty environments. In fact they are simple very hardy pioneer species, which trap the sand starting the formation of the typical dunes and these latter become established gradually thanks to their deep root system able to expand up to about ten square metres.
But these plants don't work alone and, once the dune is formed, its top is immediately covered by an underwood mainly consisting of junipers, tamarisks, lentisks and arbutuses, which represent in this environment a sort of “light infantry”. .
So the psammophytes and the underwood work together to build a higher dune barrier able to protect the areas lying behind from the waves and from the fury of the wind. In this way they can create at the back a more fertile environment where, on strongly protected soils richer in nutrients, the standard trees can propagate: the first are the cluster pines, both aleppo pines and stone pines, planted by man after the marsh reclamation (in fact the name Maremma meant originally low marshland stretching along the sea) and then there are the holm-oaks and the real ilex wood.
Now it's a pleasure to visit and enjoy this unpolluted paradise but, entering these places, you should never forget the hard work made by nature to offer this precious green oasis.
GUIDE TO THE SURROUNDING AREA AMONG CULTURE, ART, HISTORY AND TRADITIONS
The Residence Hotel Cantiere Navale Donoratico is not only the doorway to one of the most fascinating territories of Italy, but it is also the right place to discover the soul of a region, the Maremma, and you can feel it in the ancient villages on the hills and along the roads winding among vineyards and olive groves.
The Medieval villages in the environs, ideal destinations for bike excursions but also reachable by car, are true places of soul. It is even needless to remind the figure of Giosuè Carducci, because here poetry is always present everywhere. In fact it is alive in the silent villages, in the panoramas lying in the surrounding hills and also in the voices you can hear in the squares in the evening.
There are several tourist routes, but Bolgheri and Castagneto Carducci, at a short distance from here, are almost unavoidable destinations for the guests of Cantiere Navale Donoratico.
Bolgheri receives the visitors at the end of the famous “cypress boulevard”, where they can visit ancient palaces, craft shops, wine shops and typical taverns inside the walls and watch-towers of the village.
Castagneto Carducci is located at the foot of the Gherardesca Castle and you can feel its soul in the thousand windows facing the sea. The Castle, whose tower acts today as peaceful sentinel from the top of the hill, once defended a large estate including endless woodland and coastal territories. The Castle, built in 1000, was in the past an economic power centre and today it still belongs to the count's family della Gherardesca, which is one of the most ancient family names of Europe.
And, as far as history and archaeology are concerned, the Etruscan Coast offers important remains bearing witness to the Etruscan civilization, which is still wrapped in mystery under many aspects. So we recommend the following sights: the Archaeological Museums in Populonia, Cecina, Rosignano Marittimo, the National Museum in Castiglioncello and the archaeological parks located in Baratti, Populonia, San Silvestro , Cecina, San Gaetano and in Torretta Vecchia at Collsalvetti.
If you want to observe the flora and fauna of the Maremma close up, you can visit many valuable Naturalistic Parks-Oasis, which cover 20% of the territory belonging to the Etruscan Coast. Among them we recommend the following sights: the naturalistic Oasis in Bolgheri, the WWF-Oasis in Orti Battaglione, the natural biogenetic reserve in Macchia della Magona, the Magona coastal park in Bibbiona and the Livorno hills park. But we also recommend not to forget the excursions to the Island of Elba, Capraia, Gorgona and Pianosa.
One curiousness: in this area of Tuscany any form of light pollution is almost absent and so in the nights full of stars the heavens turns into a diamond cascade shining in the darkness. And of course this breathtaking view is dedicated to all the guests by the Maremma.
