Larderello

The zone of Larderello puts on a natural show (lagoons, ‘soffioni’ geysers and hot water springs) that were long noticed by the Etruscans and the Romans who employed the boron salt in pharmaceutical use and for the preparation of enamels.

In 1818 a French trader, Francesco Giacomo Larderel, set up the first borax production plant at Montecerboli and, as a result of continued technical innovation, the borax industry became a cutting edge model in the Tuscan industrial and technical scene in just a few decades. In lieu of this the Grand Duke Leopoldo II of Lorena gave the name Larderello to one of the townships of the area in 1846, to pay homage to the founder of the borax industry.

The first recorded experiment in geothermolectric production took place in Larderello in 1904 and the world’s first geothermal power station was installed in 1913.

The Geothermal Museum in Larderello was founded in 1956 and has reconstructed the distinct history of the industrial use of geothermal energy, unique in its kind in Italy, thanks to detailed and interesting apparatus, documentation and instruments. The collection comprises historical pieces that can be dated to between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries and includes samples of minerals and rocks, drilling machines, in addition to the plastic models of the development of the area, descriptions and reconstructions regarding the boric acid extraction methods, drilling and electric energy production, accounting books and geological maps.