The best cycling routes around Montieri

The historic center of Chiusdino is a charming, fortified medieval village perched on the Sienese Metalliferous Hills. It preserves its ancient urban structure with stone alleys, red and white houses in pure Sienese style, and offers a spectacular panoramic view of the Val di Merse. The village is deeply linked to the figure of Saint Galgano, the famous knight who became a hermit.

technical but well-rideable uphill trail

The "Spaghetti Uphill" is one of the most famous singletracks on Monte Arsenti in Massa Marittima, specifically designed for mountain bikes and e-bikes. This trail extends for about 2 km with an average gradient of 9% and allows you to reach the summit by covering an elevation gain of 170 meters. Lo Spaghetti Uphill It is a blue-rated singletrack climb. It was created to avoid the classic white road (fire road), offering a much more fun, technical, and forest-immersed climb, rich in hairpin turns, boardwalks, and berms. It takes you directly to the top, where numerous famous descents like the Jail Trail or the Canyon start.

Super uphill in the shade but it also gets a bit technical

Il Borgo di Ciciano is a hamlet of the municipality of Chiusdino, located in the province of Siena, in Tuscany. It is a characteristic hilly village immersed in the Colline Metallifere, known above all for its local traditions and its proximity to important historical and natural sites.

The Archaeological Museum is housed in the ancient Palazzo del Podestà (1225), which overlooks the Piazza del Duomo of Massa Marittima. The collection is organized into sections, ordered chronologically from the lower paleolithic to the etruscan age; the main piece of the prehistoric collection is the eneolithic statue-stele of Vado all’Arancio, the only find of its type in Maremma; the etruscan finds come mainly from excavations carried out at the village of Lago dell’Accesa, they are mainly kitchenware, loom weights, fishing weights and bricks; also present are the funerary trousseaux found in the necropolises, especially pottery (figulina clay and bucchero), bronze fibulae, iron pot stands, iron and bronze weapons. On the ground floor, an educational section is set up with a life-size reconstruction of typical caves: a paleolithic and an eneolithic one. Guided tours and educational activities, organization of cultural events and film screenings are available.

The massive Torre del Candeliere (or clock tower) is 24m high and was built to assert its authority in 1228, a few years after Massa Marittima gained independence as a Free Commune. The building's peculiar name derives from the custom of always keeping a fire lit on its summit, making it resemble a huge candle. In 1413, a bell was placed for the first time, later replaced in 1760 by the current one, weighing about 140kg. The first clock was instead placed on the facade in 1443. The Torre del Candeliere is the quintessential panoramic viewpoint of the town. It is therefore visitable, and through its Sienese Arch, it is possible to access the Fortress, the only stretch of walls still walkable today. The Arch and the Fortress were built after the Tower: with the conquest of Massa by Siena in 1335, the Tower was partially demolished, and then rebuilt about a third lower than the original.

At the foot of the Cornate mountains, like a miniature nativity scene, lies the charming village of Gerfalco, a perfect subject for photography and painting enthusiasts. Also a hub of mining exploration and controlled during the Middle Ages by the noble Pannochieschi family, it owes its name to the words ger-Falke, from the Medieval German, meaning "hawk-bearer." The road that encircles the village's perimeter suddenly seems lost in time. The church of San Biagio, consecrated in 1323, watches over the village. It was built with an adjoining convent, now a parish house and summer youth center.