Campiglia's San Silvestro

People have long mined the Colline Metallifere inland from Populonia (south of Livorno, facing Elba). Now there's a new kind of treasure: Campiglia Marittima's Parco Archeominerario di San Silvestro. You should park in the Valle del Temperino, and begin with the museum, which has a nice collection of minerals collected locally and exhibits devoted to the mines and miners of the past. Guided tours of the mineshafts sunk by an English company at the turn of the century depart hourly (they require covered shoes).

After the mine you should visit the Rocca di San Silvestro, an abandoned 12th century mining village above the Valle dei Manienti. You can either drive to the villa Dei Lanzi (so-called because of the German miners who lived there in the 1500s) and then hike the half-mile up to the village, or hike over from the Valle del Homes of the Lanzi Temperino, a three-hour walk on a well-marked trail with rest stops and lots of things to see. In either case, the Rocca is quite beautiful, and even though only the walls remain enough has survived to give you a good idea of what life must have been like: The boredom of the guards, who scratched the patterns of board games into the steps by the gate; the constant need for water, which led the inhabitants to chip grooves into the bedrock to guide rainwater to cisterns; the tremendous need for security, which led the people to keep everything of value (water, lamp oil, etc) in an inner keep though the village was already heavily fortified. Guided tours are also available, should you prefer. Getting there: take the new Aurelia to San Vincenzo Sud, exit, follow the signs for Campiglia Marittima, and then those for the park.