By bike between Campagnatico and the low valley of the Ombrone
Built by the noble Aldobrandeschi family around the year 1000, in a cliff overlooking the valley of the Ombrone River is located Campagnatico. Remains from Roman times testify to its antiquity, and Dante made it famous by narrating the story of the Aldobrandeschi family in the Divine Comedy.
The beautiful little square of Campagnatico is the starting point of this bike route that takes us to discover places and landscapes of the Maremma around Grosseto. The paved surface, and a varying and nervous altimetry, dotted with short but challenging ups and downs, makes the itinerary an ideal sporting route both for the user with a gravel or road bike, and for the cyclist who chooses a pedal-assisted bike to enjoy the beautiful and good things that this territory can offer.
We start downhill from Campagnatico, riding along the provincial road with the same name (State Road 18) until we reach and pass E 878 – State Road 223. We ride in the direction of Montorsaio, on the flat ground of the old road from Siena, now side road with E 78. At the next junction we proceed again in the direction of Montorsaio - Case Migliorini, ignoring the Grosseto sign.
After passing Casa Migliorini and reaching a second junction with a roundabout, we follow the Batignano sign. The side road (State Road 153) now moves away from the main thoroughfare and, almost regaining its own dignity, begins to meander up a first ramp, short but intense, which in about a thousand meters passes by the hill of Poggio Petriccio with a gradient up to 11%. Just beyond Poggio Petriccio, the State Road 125 comes off to the right, climbing up to Montorsaio, another ancient fortified village, the destination of another dedicated itinerary.
We continue on State Road 153, our wheels speeding down towards Batignano, a wonderful medieval village overlooking the Grosseto plain, with the horizon sweeping down to the sea. Enchanting for its architectural structure and the narrow alleys that chase each other on different levels, Batignano has in store for us a beautiful view and good refreshments at the small-sized stores overlooking Via di Mezzo, the only one that can be traveled by bicycle, which opens between the ancient Senese and Grossetana gates.
Still slightly downhill we cross the valley of Nomadelfia, until we reach the bike-pedestrian path that runs along the Strada dei Ruderi. We are passing right under the hill where the Etruscans first and the Romans later built Roselle. The impressive archaeological area is one of the visits that cannot be missed during a stay in the Grosseto area. Following the bike path we arrive at the new Roselle, where the building of the ancient Leopoldine baths stands out.
In the next stretch we go around the Moscona hill, where the deep wounds caused by the former quarries, from where the building material for the new Grosseto was extracted, are still evident. We get ready to go up the course of the Ombrone river, skirting another of the medieval villages along its course, Istia d'Ombrone. A tiny hamlet, Istia still retains some historically valuable structures, most notably the old gateway facing east, which the people of Grosseto call the portaccia.
Pedaling through a network of minor roads and facing some even challenging ramps, we reach the hamlet of Marrucheti, a small hamlet of Campagnatico consisting of four houses and a bar, around a country church. In a continuous up and down we go up the Ombrone valley along the provincial road of the Conce (State Road 44), which we follow until the foot of the hill of Campagnatico.
Making one last detour near the junction with State Road 18, we travel along the ancient road of Fonte Pietri, which still preserves two splendid artifacts from as many medieval fountains and wash houses. Our ride on the Ombrone valley draws to a close, just a few more minutes and we can enjoy the fresh air of the small squares of Campagnatico where landscapes, like artistic paintings, open from time to time among the millenary alleys.