Diaccia Botrona Nature Reserve: Castiglione della Pescaia's hidden Eden

Diaccia Botrona Nature Reserve: Castiglione della Pescaia's hidden Eden

Take your time to enjoy contact with its splendid, unpolluted nature. The Diaccia Botrona Nature Reserve is a protected wetland with a history, nature and landscape of exceptional value that lies between Castiglione della Pescaia and Grosseto. It is an area of international interest (according to the 1971 Ramsar Convention), where numerous species of birds overwinter, roost and nest. It stretches across 1,273 hectares and over 200 species of birds have been recorded within the Reserve as they alternate throughout the year. We can admire peregrine falcons, ospreys, herons, harriers, egrets, the great spotted cuckoo, kites and the extraordinarily beautiful pink flamingos. Also living in the Reserve are turtles, grass snakes, nutria, hedgehogs, foxes, porcupines and badgers, whereas crustaceans and sea bass mingle in the water with eels and pike.  
The protected area was created in 1996: it is what remains of the ancient Lake Prile - Lake Preglio - on which the Romans once sailed. Cicero mentions it during his speech in defence of his friend Milo. It is an enormous lake basin which used to almost cover this immense area in past centuries. An extensive pine forest surrounds the marsh and marks the coastline from Castiglione della Pescaia as far as Grosseto Marina.  

We definitely recommend you visit
this truly ecological paradise of biodiversity and sustainable tourism in the Maremma!

Why you should visit the Diaccia Botrona Nature Reserve

As you enter this Tuscan Eden, you'll find yourself immersed in a fascinating place surrounded by bird life.  You can go around on foot, by bike or by boat with an organised tour. May we make a suggestion? Get a pair of binoculars and a camera or a Smartphone. You'll come across many unusual or even rare birds!  
Diaccia Botrona is also a land of tales and legends that the local guides love to tell visitors. Evidence of the Romans and the mediaeval remains of the Abbey of San Pancrazio al Fango can be found in the heart of the nature reserve, on the Island of Clodia to be precise. Just outside the town of Castiglione della Pescaia in the far western part of Diaccia Botrona stands the distinctive Casa Ximenes or Red House, which Leonardo Ximenes built in the eighteenth century to begin work to reclaim the entire area. 

Information to visit Diaccia Botrona > clicca qui

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