Sorano

Sorano is a village located in Maremma a land of Toscana region close to Grosseto city. This part of Maremma is characterized by the presence of Tufo a special type of rock with a light brown colour that has its origin from volcano eruptions. Hence many houses of Sorano are built with this particular material. Must be underlined that first evidences of Sorano come from III century B.C. during the Roman period. In the Middle Ages it was then dominated by four powerful families: Aldobrandeschi, Orsini, Medici, Lorena.

Sorano is also characterized by the presence of Jewish ghetto founded on 1619 year by Medci family. After the second world war the ghetto was abandoned and only during the nineteens it has been restored for touristic purposes.

About Jewish presence in Sorano, there is a curiosity that is worth to be told. When Medici family decided that Jews present in Sorano had to be gathered inside the ghetto, soldiers walked around the village with a stick knocking on doors of Jews and forcing them to leave their houses for a new one into the ghetto. To commemorate this fact, during the following years a special sweet has been invented and named “Sfratto” (in Italian language this word means forcing someone to leave his house), and it has the shape of the stick used by soldiers for knocking on doors.

Among buildings of medieval period present in Sorano, must be mentioned Masso Leopoldino and Fortezza Orsini. The first is an ancient fortress and from its top a fantastic view of the village and surrounding territory can be seen. Origins of Masso Leopoldino are not well known. The second is a huge fortress built by Aldobrandeschi family in the XII century and then strengthen by Orsini family in the following years.