Historical outline
Places with particular historical and artistical interest in the
surroundings:
Siena - 18 km/11 miles far from Podere Incrociati; you
can go to the marvellous town looking for museums, parks,
fountains, games, and shows. The whole town is a museum with the
charming Piazza del Campo dominated by the Gothic Tower of
Mangia.
San Gimignano - the so called "Città dalle belle
torri", the Town with the Beautiful Towers, in the heart of the
Tuscan country, is a unique example of Medieval town, still
perfectly preserved. Its urban structure has invaluable
environmental, historical, artistic and scenery qualities.
Abbazzia di San Galgano - toward Follonica there's a
landscape characterized by uncommon solitude: the ruins of San
Galgano, which was once one of the most beautiful Gothic
Cistercian abbeys of Italy.
Volterra - a town rich in works of art, it can document
3000 years of human history thanks to its monuments.
Colle di Val d'Elsa - 26 km/16 miles far from Podere
Incrociati - the so called "Città del Cristallo", the
Town of Crystal; it is a picturesque Medieval town.
Casole d'Elsa - 18 km/11 miles far from Podere Incrociati
- it has Etruscan origins. It is still possible to see the
stronghold, the church of Santo Spirito, the ancient Town Hall,
the collegiate church of Santa Maria Assunta, the church of San
Pietro and San Niccolò, and the
Casolari-Berlinghieri-Scheggi palace.
Larderello - this is the area where the fumaroles are.
Thanks to the underground heat coming to surface it is possible
to produce electricity for Larderello and its surroundings. The
impressive, complex conduit system spreads on the area like a
cobweb, and it resembles some sort of modern work of art,
bringing the vapours of the boric acid from the underground to
enormous turbines to convert them to thermoelectricity. The
cooled water, still containing boron, is re-used afterwards for
chemical purposes.
Monteriggioni 25 km/15 miles far from Podere Incrociati -
it is an ancient settlement with Etruscan and Roman evidence. The
impressive fortress is 500 m. / 1640 ft. long and its walls are
20 m. / 66 ft. in height, reinforced by 14 towers; it was a
Sienese stronghold useful in the struggle against the hostile
Florence.
Castellina in Chianti - 40 km/25 miles far from Podere
Incrociati - this place has human evidence since the VII century
b.C.; archeological researches are still going on.
La montagnola senese extends in the districts of Siena,
Monteriggioni, Sovicille and Casole d'Elsa, but for the most
part it is located in the district of Sovicille. There is a
varied landscape: woods cover the hills and fields spread out in
the plains. In this area there are lots of ancient human
settlements, as prehistorical evidence shows: Stone Age evidence
in Personata, in the Spino plain and Brenna; Bronze Age evidence
in Cetinale, Partena, Montarrenti and on the Poggio di Siena
Vecchia. Several Etruscan settlements have been discovered:Luco
Valley, Poggio alla Piana, Ancaiano, Cetinale, Partena and
Toiano. Roman evidence has been found in Stigliano, Rosia,
Palazzone, Poggio Luco near Malignano, Barontoli, Simignano,
Toiano and Sovicille. Traces of Byzantine and Longobard
settlements are in Filetta, Caggio di Sovicille and Orgia.
During the XII-XIII century several churches were built, among
which the parish church of Pernina, Molli, S.Giusto a Valli, San
Lorenzo martire, S.Maria di Ponte allo Spino, teh parish church
of Rosia and San Lorenzo martire. In the same period some towers
(Palazzone di Sovicille and Palazzaccio di Toiano), castles
(Celsa, Montarrenti, Cerreto Selva e Palazzo al Piano) were
built, too. Several ancient villages and churches are really
charming; among the first ones there is the XII century white
fortress of Monteriggioni, with its boundary wall reinforced
with 14 square towers. Among the second ones: the wonderful
parish churches of Radicondoli, Ponte allo Spino in Sovicille,
San Giovanni in Rosia, the Augustinian hermitage of Lecceto, and
finally the original complex of Abbadia Isola, a medieval village
built in 1001 around the Cistercian Abbey of San Salvatore. In
the area of Montagnola Senese there are several buildings and
other structures that are worth to be visited, such as:
Ampugnano - village that rises near the airport. The
buildings still have their ancient medieval structure; a
charming small church, the well in the main square and the one
behind the church remind the visitor of the old way of living.
Ancaiano - this place was already inhabited in the first
period of the Bronze Age. The existing church is dedicated to
San Bartolomeo and it was built in Renaissance-style in 1660,
thanks to Pope Alessandro VII Chigi. The church is aisless, it
is on the plan of a Latin cross and at the end there is an apse
with projecting transept.
Capraia - the castle of Capraia stands upon a craggy
hill. The Ardengheschi Family had this castle built in order to
protect their estate, when Siena had their previous castle of
Orgia destroyed. Rumors said that it was impregnable because of
its three boundary walls and because it stands upon a rocky
hill. In 1100-1250 the Republic of Siena and the Ardengheschi
Family contended this castle, then several owners succeded, till
the last noble family that arrived here on the 24th September
1554; all the Family members were slain together with all the
inhabitants of the village by the Marquis of Marignano's troops.
The Marquis had an agreement with the Medici Family, according to
which he had besieged Siena, that was nearly surrendering.
Nowadays it is possible to see the tower that has been recently
restored by the current owners.
Celsa - the first informations about the castle date back
to the 1st August 1344. The Celsi Family, who owned the castle,
had it rebuilt in order to transform it in a villa according to
Baldassarre Peruzzi's plans, who also conceived the gardens.
Nowadays it is possible to see only the southern tower of the
previous building.
Cetinale - near this place Etruscan findings have been
discovered: they date back to the IX-VIII century b.C.; Cardinal
Flavio Chigi (Pope Alessandro's VII nephew) had the villa built
in 1680, according to the architect Carlo Fontana's plan. Since
the beginning of the XVIII century there was a renowned ceramics
and majolica factory. Above the villa there is a hermitage; a
sacred path called "scala santa" (holy stairs), 500 m. / 0,31
miles long, leads to this charming place. The Blessed Chigi had
this building built in 1716 in order to give hospitality to the
Coenobite monks, who took care of ill people.
Malignano - Some documents written before the year 1000
mention the castle of Malignano. There is an oratory dedicated
to the Archangel Michael; in this place the Ardengheschis and
the Republic of Siena subscribed some agreements. In 1259 the
village was burnt and destroyed by the Florentine troops.
Molli - the first documents about the parish church date
back to 1078; on 2nd February the countess Matilde of Canossa
gave the Bishop of Volterra this church as a donation, however,
according to some researches into the walls, it could have been
built during the Longobard period or the Frankish one. It is a
church with nave and two aisles; the altar has been rebuilt,
probably by using the stones of the bell-tower destroyed by a
lightning in 1930. The front has a symmetrical structure and has
been probably rebuilt in the first years of the XVIII century.
Montarrenti - the charming castle stands upon a craggy
hill (345 m. / 1132 ft. high); the first informations about the
castle date back to 1156.
Museo del bosco - (Museum of the Woods) this is an
ethnographic museum where it is possible to admire some evidence
of human life and work in the woods. It is in Orgia, a village of
Etruscan origins, composed of some buildings that stand upon
several hills.
Palazzaccio - ancient fortified building of the Republic
of Siena. In 1333 the village was burnt by the troops of Pisa;
it is still possible to see the damages, as the building has
never been cleaned nor rebuilt.
Palazzo al Piano - it has Medieval origins and stands at
a height of about 430 m. / 1416 ft.
Pernina - the old parish church of Santa Maria in Pernina
stands at a height of about 499 m. / 1637 ft.; it dates back to
the XII century. The bell-tower, on a square plan, is about 22
m. / 72,4 ft. in height and it stands in front of the church.
Personata - this small deconsecrated church, dedicated to
Santa Margherita, has ancient origins, probably Etruscan origins,
but the first informations date back to the XIII century.
Pieve di ponte allo Spino - this church already existed
in 1050 and it was a halting-place along the road that linked
the "Via Cassia" to the "Via Aurelia". Under the courtyard some
precious mosaics of the Roman Empire Age have been found; they
were part of a large Roman villa. The entrance of the church is
interesting, as you have to go down some steps to enter the
church. It consists of a building with nave and two aisles and
it was built in late Romanesque French style, that is quite
similar to the Gothic style. The capitals are gracefully
decorated with human figures and geometrical ornaments.
Ponte della Pia - (Pia's Bridge) it is the most charming
bridge of this area. In Etruscan times an ancient road crossed
it; the bridge linked the Merse Valley to the Maremma Toscana.
The bridge has probably Roman origins and it has been rebuilt
during the Middle Ages in Romanic style. According to some
legends, the beautiful Pia, Nello d'Inghiramo de'
Pannocchieschi's sorrowful wife, crossed this bridge to go into
exile in Maremma, at Castello della Pietra. Dante Alighieri,
too, wrote about this legend (Divine Commedy, "Purgatorio",
Canto V).
San Giusto a Valli - the first informations about this
parish church date back to 994; it originally had a nave and two
aisles, but nowadays there are just two aisles, because of an
intense intervention made in the XV century. The beautiful
church well dates back to the XII-XIII century; it was built by
using semicircular limestone blocks.
Simignano - it stands at a height of about 410 m. / 1345
ft. along the road that goes from Ancaiano to Pievescola; it has
uncertain origins, but it probably dates back to the Roman Age.
The first informations date back to 1163, when it was subdued by
Siena. The beautiful, small church is dedicated to San Magno and
it has a wonderful bell-tower, which is simple but graceful.
Torri - small Medieval village, where the Abbey of Santa
Mustiola is, which was built in the XII century and has a
wonderful cloister.
The small villages of Tonni, Toiano, Tegoia and Abbadia Isola
are really charming: they have stayed as they were, and here
time seems to have stopped.