Multimedia Museum at the Casa Rossa Ximenes
A centre for discovering the Diacca Botrona Reserve, open for visits by boat
The Casa Rossa Ximenes is an evocative building designed by the Jesuit engineer Leonardo Ximenes in 1767-68, under the rule of Peter Leopold of Lorraine, as part of a reclamation project for the Maremma.
The Casa Rossa must have been the main tool for redeveloping the marsh in Castiglione della Pescaia because according to Ximenes, by keeping the salt water from the sea separate from the fresh water found inland, the formation of miasma could be avoided, which at the time was believed to be the cause of malaria.
Today, the Casa Rossa houses the Multimedia Museum, dedicated to discovering the Diaccia Botrona nature reserve, with documentaries, projections on scale models of the area and a “virtual hut,” where visitors can learn to identify the flight of birds by simulating a sighting experience.
The museum organizes bird watching activities, guided visits to the marsh by boat, mountain bike and hiking excursions and nature-related workshops.
Info: museidimaremma.it
