Byways in southern Tuscany . Massa Marittima. The Upper Town CHAPTER I San Galgano—Chiusidino—Massa Marittima—roccatederighi MONG so many roads all beckoningtoward differing delights in the cornerof Tuscany lying before us to explore,it would be hard to choose but for thecertainty that not one will be withoutits own charm and reward. Yet thefirst impulse is toward the west, theshore of the Tyrhennian Sea, whitherthe imagination irresistibly flies becauseit is there that the Maremma Hes, mysterious, forbiddenland so long avoided by the stranger who, whatever hisdesire to enter it, seldom chose
Byways in southern Tuscany . Massa Marittima. The Upper Town CHAPTER I San Galgano—Chiusidino—Massa Marittima—roccatederighi MONG so many roads all beckoningtoward differing delights in the cornerof Tuscany lying before us to explore,it would be hard to choose but for thecertainty that not one will be withoutits own charm and reward. Yet thefirst impulse is toward the west, theshore of the Tyrhennian Sea, whitherthe imagination irresistibly flies becauseit is there that the Maremma Hes, mysterious, forbiddenland so long avoided by the stranger who, whatever hisdesire to enter it, seldom chose to pay the penalty too oftenexacted. It is not for beautys sake that one is drawn to-ward it. Beauty is there for those who recognize it butit does not coerce the indifferent. Along that coast thereare few salient features that suggest its unparalleled. BYWAYS IN SOUTHERN TUSCANY history. It is memory and fancy that must deal with itand picture the march of the ages as they have passed overit and looked upon its strange, vivid blossomings, itslapses to decay and death and its final retrieval. So if weyield to its call we leave Siena by the Porta San Marcoand take the highway that leads through Chiusidino andMassa Marittima toward the setting sun. It is a country rich with cultivation. Vines and olives,olives and vines He on either hand, and heights dark withilex or green and gold with chestnuts, while the roadside isbordered with wild flowers, among which the poppy pre-vails and flaunts its glowing scarlet above the rest. Wepass tiny villages and farm houses, there are small streamsto cross and the River Merse which here turns and doublesupon itself keeps us company now and then in its wind-ings. Before traveling far there is Montarrente, a smallbut fine old ruin on a sHght eminence above the road, anda few miles beyond it we emerge
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecttuscany, bookyear1919
