Ruins way

map	variation	tracks and GPS waypoint

Total length	Km. 15,8
Total difference of levels	mt. 373
Travelling times	2h 00'	5h 00'
Difficulty	medium

The path known as the "Via dei ruderi" (Ruins way) draws its name from the several farms (mostly "deruta" types) that are found along the way. In the past, these had been of great importance for the care and maintenance of the woods; nowadays they have been converted into areas equipped for halting and resting during hiking and mountain biking activities. The course, which winds its way along a "medium" difficulty track, mainly crossing chestnut woods and small fir-woods, begins at the Museo Minerario (Mining Museum), an important testimony of a past linked to the mining activities of one of the most important mercury mines in the world. Along the way, in fact, the massive constructions can be observed together with some of the numerous architectural structures that made up the mining complex. Another facet of interest is the presence of votive/religious elements such as La Crocetta ("Little Cross") or the vestiges of ancient settlements such as the one found close to the so-called Castello della Pertica ("Pole's Castle"). The course, over a total distance of 15.8 km, rises in level for about 373 metres and ends by getting back to the Museo Minerario.

Museo Minerario (The Mining Museum)
The museum, housed in the building called "Torre dell'Orologio" (Clock Tower), was created to keep in mind and to spread the history and culture of Mount Amiata, linked to the mining activities. It is subdivided into exhibition sections that illustrate the mineral's excavation and metal extraction systems, the work stages, the miners day-to-day life and the different conception of mercury through time: from alchemy to a world-wide strategic resource. Within the museum is found the "Level VlI Shaft" which constitutes the first underground path. Within the shaft, which is lined with wood, are reconstructed various environments equipped with tools, machinery and life-sized dummies representing some work stages and excavation faces with ore containing cinnabar. The work stages are reproduced in different periods and environments. The movement of the lift cages can also be viewed, as well as, out in the open, the winch-control hut and the steel shaft-head representing the Mafalda Pit.

Miniera (The Mines)
From 1846, with the starting up of the Mount Amiata mining activities, the only and true modern-era industrial experience was witnessed, involving all the mountain municipalities for 130 years, enabling the area to emerge from a deep socio-economic crisis. In fact, until that time mount Amiata was one of Tuscany's poorest areas, drawing its livelihood from limited agriculture, often forcing the inhabitants to emigrate. The workmen within the mine were engaged in tasks as carpenters, miners, wagon drivers and points-men. Initially the work shifts lasted 12 hours to then move on to 8-hour shifts from 1901. Cinnabar was mined from the shafts: this is a bright red mineral, mainly composed mercury sulphide. After extraction, through various work stages, mercury would be obtained from this mineral.

The Ruines
During the first half of the last century, the Podere Cipriana and Podere Sant'Antonio (Cipriana and Sant'Antonio farmhouses), as well as the other buildings encountered along the way, represented an important defence point for the protection of chestnut woods, property of the mercury mine, necessary for the mining activity. The agricultural activities were represented by the share-cropping mode exploitation of the surrounding areas, which today have been re-wooded, where rye and potato were cultivated and in which the breeding of farmyard animals was practised. For this, the Cipriana has represented an important reality and, still nowadays, an opportunity for "reading" Amiata's mining history. Both the Podere Cipriana and the Podere Pozzaroni are equipped with pleasant rest areas in which are available benches, tables and barbecues.

The Volcano
Mount Amiata is the first volcano that we encounter travelling south through the Italian peninsula. The current shape of the mountain is the result of the volcanic activity that started in the Quaternary age (in the Pleistocene, about one and a half million years ago) and which concluded about 290,000/180,000 years ago. It is thanks to the volcano that the underground harbours those precious treasures exploited by man since time immemorial: cinnabar for the production of mercury, the sulphurous vapours for geothermal power and the beneficial thermal waters present in many of the mount Amiata areas.