The name of Follonica comes from "fulloni", the bellows used in the foundry that the Grand Duke Leopoldo II had ordered to be built in the XIX century and that have represented the means of the town's development. The original Neo-Classical church of San Leopoldo, also called "church of the cast iron" for the use of this material for decorations, is worth being cited.

The history of the town of Follonica, that has 20000 inhabitants and that is in the province of Grosseto, is strictly linked to the manufacture of iron, an activity that had been carried out by the Etruscans in this area for a long time. Some traces of a settlement dating to the VI century B.C. have been found on the hills of Follonica. The growth of this village was probably due to the development of the near centre of Rondelli, where ferrous materials coming from the isle of Elba were manufactured. Many finds coming from the excavations of Rondelli and Val Petraia are gathered in the Archaeological Museum of Follonica.
The Appiani of Piombino had always directly administered the area corresponding to the modern town. This family, that ruled also the city of Pisa when it was definitively annexed to Florence, was later at the lead of the principality of Piombino. It was a small satellite-state of the Grand Duchy and it united the lands of the coast and of the Tuscan archipelago that were economically dependent upon the mining industry and the iron and steel industry.
The area of Follonica, which was mainly constituted of insalubrious and swampy lands, was not fit for agricultural uses and was known for the presence of the foundry in the Appiani until the XV-XVI centuries, at least. This activity developed in the XVI century with the arrival of the Tuscan Grand Duchy that controlled the area. In 1577, the Medici started the extension and the updating of the metallurgic plant.
Nevertheless, a real industrial revolution had started since the year 1863 as established by the Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine. This is when the use of cast iron in art was proposed as it is shown in the decorations of the church of San Leopoldo, consecrated before the king himself in 1738. Today, Follonica has lost most of its industrial importance and has transformed itself into a very appreciated and populated seaside resort.