Puccini 'also had his eye on a winter retreat: the ancient fort of Torre della Tagliata in a remote part of the Tuscan Maremma (' 1O metres from the sea, ... plenty of hunting and fishing, ... climate: Montecarlo, because it's sheltered by the hill of Ansedonia, ... altogether a real delight." By October 1919 he had completed the purchase and was able to move in after Christmas. Bur his delight was of short duration. Within a year he was inveighing against the desolation, the stink of the marshes, and, above all, the debilitating 'scirocco'. In 1922 he put the property up for sale.'[Julian Budden, Puccini: His Life And Works, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ]

The historical complex of the Tagliata Tower, or the Puccini Tower, is an historical landmark in this area and sits directly on the beach.
The composer Giacomo Puccini lived in this spanish tower during the last years of his life. He began writing the Turandot opera here.

Giacomo Puccini, an ardent hunter and fisherman (cacciatore e pescatore), loved the wild marsh land of the Maremma. In 1920 he bought the crumbling tower (torre franante) on the windblown beach and became friends with the men of the local Guardia di Finanza (a branch of the police), his only neighbors whose caserma (barracks) were next door.