Grosseto

Grosseto: cathedral

Grosseto, city, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, central Italy. It lies on a low-lying coastal plain near the Ombrone River southwest of Siena. The plain, the Maremma, was a malarial swamp until the 18th century. The old town is enclosed by a 16th-century hexagonal wall, a rampart of which bears the arms of the Florentine Medici family. The new town was much developed after 1930 in conjunction with a program of reclamation of the Maremma. Notable landmarks include the Romanesque cathedral (rebuilt 1294, much restored) and an archaeological museum with Etruscan and Roman antiquities. About 5 miles (8 km) northeast, near the warm mineral springs of Bagno Roselle, are the remains of the ancient Etruscan and Roman city and episcopal see of Rusellae. Grosseto is an important commercial and agricultural centre on the railway from Rome to Pisa. Pop. (2006 est.) mun., 76,330.