perfect for a day trip, perhaps starting somewhere in the sea. It starts from San Gimignano, near Volterra, San Gimignano is a Tuscan town of 7,105 inhabitants located in the province of Siena . For the typical medieval architecture of its historic center has declared ' UNESCO World Heritage . The fame of San Gimignano, however, comes not only from its history, but also by works of art and the Vernaccia di San Gimignano , white wine DOCG that is produced. It is the birthplace of the medieval poet Folgore of San Gimignano .
Continuing inland you reach Montalcino (5115 inhabitants) is a town in the province of Siena . It is a place famous for the production of wine Brunello. Fits in the territory north-west of Mount Amiata, at the end of the Val d'Orcia, on the administrative border with the province of Grosseto.
The city's name derives from the Latin mons (mountain) and ilex (holm oak), meaning "mountain of the oaks."
Among the traditions is to report the Sagra held the last Sunday of October and the Opening Tournament Hunts of every August.
As a last stop on this day 'medieval' Monteriggioni :
"but that, as on its circular Monteriggioni is crowned with towers, so the shore that 'the well circondatorregiavan half the personal horrible giants , which minacciaGiove the heavens when he thunders'
( Dante Alighieri, Inferno Canto XXXI , vv. 40-45)
Monteriggioni is a town of 7,877 inhabitants of the province of Siena . Its nucleus is a small village fortified. The diameter of the castle is 172 meters, surrounded by massive walls of elliptical shape thickness of no less than 2 m, spaced by 15 towers and two gates , which surrounds a hill called Mount Ala. The towers now rise above the walls to 6.5 meters, with a thickness of 4x6 meters, and only 11 are visible: the other four have been reduced to the level of the walls. On the walls ran a path along the entire perimeter. In 2005 were reconstructed parts of the walkway, where you can enjoy a unique and charming.
La Porta or Franca Romea (oriented Siena) located at the base of a tower while that of St. John (Florence to ) opens in the walls and defended by the towers of the fortified perimeter.
entering the free port or Romea, which originally was equipped with a heavy gate that was lowered in an emergency, you get to Piazza Roma, the heart of the village. The square originally was "digging in", which is unpaved, but it was paved in the '60s with stone from the quarries of Rosia (called the Stone Tower). To date, the square is surrounded by gardens and orchards, very important in the past to allow the survival of the population in case of siege .
the square overlooking the church of Santa Maria Assunta, in Romanesque style mixed and Gothic, built in 1219 . The church has a single nave large with vaults where you can still see the sign of the old trusses . The nave ends in an apse square vault, where he placed the wooden choir dating from the XVI century . The polychrome façade is built with travertine and sandstone . The portal is surmounted by an arch on top of which are decorated in brick . The bell tower dates from the eighteenth century , built by using Mecacci ancient material.
Inside the church you can admire two tabernacles of fifteenth century, a painting of Our Lady of Lippo Vanni, a wooden crucifix and bell donated to the church by Republic of Siena in 1298 .
Useful
- Castle Monteriggioni
- Jubilee House on May
- Monte San Gimignano.com
- Hotel San Gimignano
- Vernaccia di San Gimignano
- Pro Loco
- Montalcino Brunello Consortium Montalcino
- Friends of Montalcino
