Barbanella is remembered in the medieval era as marshy land located on the eastern bank of the former Lake Prile, northwest of the city of Grosseto.

The first mention of the locality is found in a document dated 8 May 1222, which refers to a "campum positum in contrada que dicitur piscina Barbione".

A portion of the land was reclaimed in the mid-13th century by the municipality of Grosseto, which was entrusted to local assignees and designated for cultivation.

[1] In 1828, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany initiated a major reclamation project for the marshland and constructed the diversion canal, making substantial improvements for the agricultural development of the Barbanella estate, which at the time belonged to brothers Antonio and Ubaldo Andreini.

[2] The estate was purchased in 1855 by Baron Bettino Ricasoli, who invested numerous resources in agricultural experiments based on the British high farming model, employing a highly mechanized system that ultimately did not yield the expected results.