Mount Amiata or Monte Amiata is a volcanic peak in south east Tuscany, near the border with Lazio (Latium) to the south, the sacred mountain of the Etruscan people. Its elevation of 1,738 metres (5,702 feet) makes it the highest mountain in the Tuscany region, and Italy’s second tallest volcano after Etna. Unlike Etna, Amiata is dormant. Amiata was once much higher than it is today, but is being eroded by the Orcia and Ombrone rivers which flow into the western Mediterranean (Tyrrhenian Sea). Wine regions influenced climatically by Amiata include the Val d’Orcia (see Orcia DOC) to the north-east, Montalcino to the north, and Montecucco (see Montecucco DOC) and the Maremma to the west. The Amiata area is covered with forests of mainly beech and chestnut. In the 19th-century its mercury was used for the industrial revolution but the mines closed in 1976. 

Provinces: Amiata is dived across the two provinces of Siena and Grosseto.

Main towns: Abbadia San Salvatore. | Castiglion d’Orcia. | Piancastagnaio. | Radicofani.