Today, simply mentioning Maremma, a region along the Tyrrhenian Sea in southwest Tuscany that dips into Northern Lazio, evokes the idea of a paradise. Maremma is farmyard, stable, dairy, apiary, vineyard, olive grove, a wonderful natural store where you can buy products of the highest quality, from meat to wine, from oil to honey, from pasta to cheese, even rice and natural cosmetics.

And to think that 200 years ago it was an insidious trap, "the bird that goes there loses its feather," so went a famous folk song, referring to the swamp water – there were mosquitoes and brigands and the hardships of a difficult life.