Follonica: from grand-ducal ironworks to pine forests on the gulf, gateway to the Colline Metallifere

Follonica's identity was forged in iron: in 1834 Grand Duke Leopold II had a foundry built here that became, at the time, the second most important in Europe. Ironworking continued until 1960, when production moved to Piombino, leaving the town an industrial legacy that today coexists with its tourist calling.

The coast alternates free and equipped beaches in fairly even proportions — about half the shoreline is occupied by beach facilities, the other half stays public — with two pine forests, Levante and Ponente, framing the gulf. The Bandite di Follonica nature reserve protects a further stretch of coast and woodland.

Follonica sits within the Colline Metallifere territory (the Metal-Bearing Hills), at the centre of the gulf that shares its name: the Colline Metallifere technological and archaeological park, spanning seven municipalities, tells the mining history of this part of Tuscany, of which Follonica was for a long time the industrial outlet.

Today the town lives mostly in summer, between beaches and events like the Grey Cat Jazz Festival and the Follonica Summer Festival, but it also remains a good base for heading inland into the mining hills, far less visited than the coast.

Getting there

Follonica is served by the Via Aurelia bypass and the Tyrrhenian railway line; bus connections link it to Massa Marittima, in the mining hills inland.