PLACES WITHIN HALF AN HOUR'S DRIVE FROM BARONTOLI
An attractive fortified villa, just outside Siena.
A schizophrenic town north-west of Siena
Two churches of moderate interest just outside Colle Val d'Elsa on the way to Volterra
A tiny Augustinian monastery in the woods, about 7 km from Barontoli.
An ancient hermitage with good frescoes; plus a walk to a strange memorial.
A romantic looking fortified village on a hill-top just north of Siena, and a graceful Romanesque abbey church nearby.
Three places off the Grosseto road, just within half an hour of Barontoli. Paganico has good frescoes; San Lorenzo is a Romanesque church of minor interest along a bad road but in a beautiful valley; and Petriolo has a sulphurous hot spring for anybody who wants a hot bath.
An attractive Romanesque church in the countryside between Barontoli and Sovicille.
For a woodland walk with ruins thrown in.
A sprawling village about 8 kilometres from Barontoli on the Siena-Roccastrada road, with a tiny Romanesque church.
A village with a handsome Renaissance villa, a church with old frescoes, good views and good walks, about 15 km north-west of Barontoli.
Fabulous views and good walks.
An exquisite Romanesque mini-cloister.
Open to the public for free the first Monday of the month, 9.00-13.00 and 16.00-19.00 in summer; and 9.00-12.00 and 15.00-17.00 in winter. From Barontoli, take the old road to Siena through San Andrea and Costalpino. Turn left just after Costalpino, following the yellow signs to Belcaro.
The fortified gate into Belcaro
Belcaro was originally built as a castle in the 1100s, but was sacked a number of times; substantially remodelled as a villa in the 16th century by the fashionable architect of the day, Baldassare Peruzzi; and further altered on several occasions since then. So it is hardly an architectural unity, but still a fine example of a castle-villa built both for defence and for gracious living. The villa is still entirely surrounded by high walls.
It has been owned during its long history by various leading Sienese families, including the Salimbeni (whose unpopularity caused the populace to rise up and attack Belcaro); St Catherine of Siena who turned it into a convent in 1376; the Turamini (who were responsible for employing Peruzzi to rebuild it); and since 1710 the Camajori, the present owners. The name is said to come from a distinctly upsetting story. A lady of the Castello, waiting for her husband to come back from the wars, was promenading on the battlements with her baby in her arms, when she perceived her husband coming over the horizon. She extended her arms towards him, dropping the baby into the garden below. This led her to exclaim to her husband “you are handsome (bello) but you have cost me dear (caro)”.
The main things to see in Belcaro are the chapel and orangery or loggia, both decorated with attractive if undistinguished frescoes dating from the 16th-17th century (the expensive entry ticket buys you a leaflet in fractured English which describes what they portray); and the battlements around which you can walk and admire stunning views of Siena and surrounding countryside (the entrance to the battlements is up some steps just inside the second courtyard, on the right). There is also a fresco of the Judgement of Paris painted by Peruzzi inside the private part of the villa, not normally viewable.
Photo Sailko via wikipedia.
1980s
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Colle di Val d’Elsa is really two towns: a historical town (Colle Alta) strung out along the top of a high ridge and a bustling modern industrial town below (Colle Bassa). Almost alone among Sienese (and indeed Tuscan) towns, Colle has a real industrial base, manufacturing paper and high class glassware. The lower town has a lively and open atmosphere quite unlike that of the closed and secretive society of Siena. But for the visitor it has little to offer beyond a pleasant colonnaded main square and a restaurant with two Michelin stars. The upper town is largely dead except for tourists, but has a number of attractive palazzi and churches with moderately interesting contents. Colle’s most famous son is Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect of the Duomo in Florence, and many things in the town are called after him.
To visit the upper town, drive up the hill past the lower town in the direction of Volterra. There is a big car-park on the left just below the upper town, involving a steep climb up. So it is best to go on up and to park in the car-park of the via della Porta Vecchia, or a bit further on at the parking area down the lane to the right of the big mediaeval gate (Porta Nuova) at the top of the town.
The upper town consists of little more than one long street, running along the ridge downwards from the enormous turreted Porta Nuova (or Porta Volterrana). Like so many things called new in Italy, it is pretty old, dating from 1481. It was built on the orders of Lorenzo Il Magnifico of Florence. Colle was mainly allied to Florence against the Sienese, but in 1479 the city fell to the forces of Siena and the Pope (with whom Lorenzo had quarrelled). Shifting alliances brought Colle quickly back to Florence, but Lorenzo clearly felt that he must strengthen its defences. The gateway was designed according to the most modern military principles, to withstand not only traditional medieval weaponry but the fire-arms that were just coming into general use in European warfare. The old gate, the Porta Vecchia, was a little further along the walls near the curious round red-brick water-tank (cisterna).
Going down the main street (called first via Gracco del Secco, then via di Castello) from the Porta Nuova, the first church on the left is St Catherine. It is of little interest, but through the unmarked door to its left (next to No. 1 via Gracco), there is a small oratory (also accessible from the church if it is open), with an impressive 16th century “Lamentation” – a life-size group of painted terracotta figures representing mourners over the dead Christ.
The via Gracco continues down, lined with handsome palazzi (all labelled with name and date), until a bridge (originally a drawbridge) over a gap in the crest which marks the divide between the “Borgo” and the “Castello”, the medieval heart of the city. A wing of the L-shaped 16th century Villa Campana forms an arch over the road, and the latter shortly afterwards opens out to become the Piazza del Duomo. The Duomo itself is a pretty dull building, but has a good pulpit, in very simple low relief but all the better for that. The low relief dates from 1465, but the artist has used much older pillars to support his panels. The chapel in the right transept has a most elegant gilded tabernacle by Mino da Fiesole, a wonderful exercise in perspective. It was built to house a relic, a nail (Santo Chiodo) from the Crucifixion, and it is hard to believe that the door at the centre is not part of Mino’s sculpture.
There are two museums near the Duomo, both of strictly moderate interest, the Museo Archeologico and, just after the Piazza at No. 31 via Castello, the Museo Civico e de l’Arte Sacra.
The Museo Archeologico Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli is devoted to Etruscan and other remains dug up round Colle, including a 5,000-year old prehistoric tomb. Most of the best finds have been swiped by more important museums, and the items are, as is the Sienese fashion, grouped according to where they were found rather than chronologically or thematically, which makes them more difficult to set in context. But the exhibits are well-displayed and well-lit and the explanations (in Italian and English) are pretty good, so it may be worth a brief visit. The museum is in the 15th century Palazzo del Podestà (chief magistrate) and the walls of the upper floors are delightfully covered in the frescoes of the coats of arms of the early holders of the office.
The Museo Civico e de l’Arte Sacra has one good work, a Virgin and Child by a contemporary of Duccio. The painting used to be in the Badia a Isola and was thought to be by Duccio. It was then reattributed by the experts to an unnamed late 13th century artist, who was dubbed on the strength of this painting the “Master of the Badia (or Abbadia) a Isola”. There is another of his works in the Pinacoteca in Siena.
Further down on the right is Santa Maria Canonica, a Romanesque structure of ageless simplicity. Its one treasure is a 14th century alterpiece of the Madonna and Child with saints, with generous use of gold leaf, by Pier Francesco Fiorentino (active 1474-97). This is an excellent example of the way that paintings and frames were made together to meld into a single work of art.
Back up at the top of the city near the circular water-tank, a road takes off to the monastery of San Francesco, in the church of which there is a good altarpiece by Sano di Pietro. Unfortunately, however, the church is rarely open - although arrangements can probably be made with the tourist office.
Gastronomically, Colle is well endowed. For those with deep pockets and time on their hands, the double Michelin-starred Arnolfo restaurant awaits in the lower town (not to be confused with the hotel of the same name in the upper town), and there are a number of other good eating places in or near the main square.
(2004, 2010 and 2015)
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Le Grazie
From Colle, follow the signs to Volterra. About a kilometre after passing the great mediaeval gate into the upper city of Colle, you will see in front of you the tiny brick facade of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, with an attractive terracotta festoon of fruit and pine-cones around its circular window. Inside it is a miniscule Renaissance church with several interesting l6th century frescoes - there are fact-sheets describing them in English and German just inside the door. On the right wall near the door, there is a Madonna and Child with St Anthony Abbot (painted in 1524), and next to it St Sebastian and St Rocco (or St Roch, a 14th century saint who caught the plague and, as here, is usually depicted showing the plague sore on his leg). On the left the Madonna and Child are accompanied by St Catherine of Alexandria, who was renowned for her learning - she disputed successfully with 50 philosophers who were called in to convince her of the errors of Christianity, and is shown here with an appropriate collection of highbrow books on rhetoric, music, metaphysics etc. She appears again on the wall on the left transept, this time with St George and his dragon. At the end of the same transept (being restored) is a 15th century Circumcision, the best of the works in the church. The fresco over the altar is the locally venerated ‘Madonna delle Grazie’.
Abbazia di Coneo
The apse of the Abbazia di Coneo in 2015
Just beyond Santa Maria delle Grazie, take the left fork towards Casole d'Elsa. A little further along, turn right at the sign to the Abbazia di Coneo (or Badia a Coneo). Follow the signs to ‘Abbazia’, ‘Badia’ and ‘la Chiesa’; the church is behind a farmhouse on the left. It is a beautifully simple, grey stone romanesque building set in lovely countryside. It was consecrated in 1123. The facade is decorated with blind arches; the interior is single-aisled; and there are three apses. It was once part of an abbey, and the doorway into the farmyard to the right of the facade originally led into cloisters and other abbey buildings. Both inside and out a variety of carvings have been made in the stonework. Inside there are carved capitals with intricate patterns and primitive little men in Atlas-like poses appear to hold up the roof (with a snake above them on the left side). Outside, there are further good carvings on the facade, on the gateway into the farmyard, and around the apse and the hexagonal lantern above the vault.
Unfortunately, although one can wander freely round the outside, the church itself is now kept locked and used only for special occasions – for instance when a local person wants to get married there. The parish priest
(parrocco) at Le Grazie has a key and it might be possible to arrange a visit through the tourist office in Colle Val d’Elsa.
(1993 and 2015)
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From Barontoli go to Volte Basse; turn right into the main road and then immediately left along the road signposted ‘Firenze’ and ‘Bivio SS 2’. Carry on along this road until you see the yellow sign to Lecceto on the left.
Founded on the site of a hermitage in among the holm oaks (lecce in Italian), the present buildings date back to the 14th century. They are not particularly distinguished architecturally, but are pleasingly simple and their lovely woodland setting makes this a most attractive place. Lecceto is a favourite afternoon outing for local people, so at weekends it is often quite crowded.
The inside of the church was completely redecorated in baroque times, and is none the less attractive for that, being white and light. Unfortunately, some good 14th century frescoes were sacrificed to achieve the baroque effect, and now only a few frescoed fragments, a couple of which (including a Michael the Archangel) may be by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The largest fresco , by an unknown 14th century Sienese artist, shows four saints – St Augustine, St John the Baptist, an unknown bishop and St Nicholas of Tolentino (with a sun on his front). On the same wall, near the altar, there is a modern portrait of St Augustine with his mother St Monica, in sharply contrasting style.
An elegant 14th century marble tombstone is set in the floor on the right, its peacefully sleeping owner reposing on a beautifully embroidered marble pillow. Above the altar on the right wall there is a curious naive painting of a crucifix standing on three sugar-loaves (the crest of the monastery; the sugar-loaves being the crest also of the Chigi, one of the great local families in the Middle Ages), surrounded by portraits of monks from the monastery who had achieved the status of “blessed” (one before sainthood).
An ancient two-story cloister stands beside the church, very simple and peaceful, the sort that makes one understand why people take up the monastic life. There is also a second cloister, but it is closed to the public (Lecceto is still a working religious establishment housing a community of nuns).
There are some pleasant walks in the surrounding woods.
1990s and 2013.
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EREMO di SAN LEONARDO al LAGO and the PYRAMID
About 10km from Barontoli. Openening hours tend to change fairly frequently, but it is open most days in summer. Go to Volte Basse; then right and almost at once left. Follow the signs for Firenze until you see a left turn with a sign indicating San Lorenzo al Lago. Go along this road for a couple of kilometres (it ceases to be tarred about half way along); then left again up a rather bad track. For access, ring the bell for the (rather surly) custodian.
San Leonardo was an eleventh century monk who set up here as a hermit in a small chapel. The site was then on the edge of a lake (drained in the middle of the last century), hence the name 'al Lago' (on the lake). A small monastery was built on the site after San Leonardo's death. All that now remains is the little monastery church, with the remains of San Leonardo's original chapel in the crypt, and the old refectory. The church is heavily fortified, with great thick walls; it was part of Siena's outer defences against invaders.
The old refectory has what must once have been a powerful monochromatic fresco of the crucifixion by the fifteenth century Giovanni di Paolo (1399-1482), unfortunately damaged as at some point when a ceiling was built half way up the refectory right through the middle of it. Only the heads of the crucified men can be seen, together with part of the figures at the foot of the cross can still be seen, women to the left and men (including some orientally dressed Pharisees) to the right.
The small Romano-Gothic church is decorated with attractive frescoes by the Sienese artist Lippo Vanni, painted between 1360 and 1370, the larger scenes demonstrating a good use of space and perspective. Those round the altar show scenes from the life of the Virgin: her presentation at the temple as a child; the Annunciation; and her betrothal to Joseph, apparently by the same priest as the one to whom she was presented earlier. In the vault, on the sides, Lippo has painted a wonderful heavenly orchestra of angels, playing a strange array of instruments. On the left of the entrance to the chancel there a picture of San Leonardo himself, with, below, some illustrations of the miracles which he performed; as often the case with Sienese saints and holy men, he had the capacity to fly like Superman through the air to spots where his miraculous aid was needed (cf. Simone Martini's painting of the blessed Agostino Novello in the Pinacoteca in Siena). The fresco on the right depicts St Augustine of Hippo and his mother St Monica.
Betrothal of the Virgin (detail) by Lippo Vanni
The Pyramid
A track leads into the wood beside the little car-park below the monastery, sign-posted “La Grande Traversata Osteraccia”. Follow this, taking a left fork after 150 metres. After a pleasant walk of about half a mile it brings you out onto the road below the monastery, by a little settlement called “Osteraccia” – probably an inn (“osteria”) in medieval times. On the other side of the road, to the right of the house and garden, another path leads down through the wood sign-posted “La Grande Traversata Piramide”. This comes out into a field, and on the other side of the field is the “pyramid” – actually more of an obelisk. It stands incongruously in the middle of nowhere to commemorate the draining of the lake that used to cover the area. In medieval times, it seems to have been a true lake, its fish and waterfowl providing a useful source of food for the local inhabitants. But by the 18th century it had become a malodorous swamp, blamed by the neighbouring villages for bringing sickness (these were the days when malaria was blamed on “miasmas” rather than to the mosquitoes that no doubt infested the swamp). A local noble undertook to drain the swamp at his own expense in 1764, and built a tunnel to take the waters to the river Merse. But he failed to complete the work. Fortunately, the then Grand duke of Tuscany, the Austrian Peter Leopold of Habsbourg (who had inherited the Duchy of Tuscany from the last of the Medicis), was an enlightened ruler and he took over the project, completing it in 1781. The pyramid was built to celebrate the event.
The Pyramid. The path going past it is part of the Via Francigena hiking trail.
There is a small picnic area nearby with a table and a minatory notice forbidding everything from lighting fires to making unnecessary noise.
1995; revised 2005.
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MONTERIGGIONI and BADIA A ISOLA
Monteriggioni
15-20 minutes from Barontoli. Free car-park at the bottom of the hill with steps up; paying car-park at the top.
Monteriggioni looks best from below – there is a particularly good view from the Florence-Siena superstrada – with its 13th century walls surmounted by 14 towers. Its main claim to fame is that it is mentioned in Dante’s Inferno. The relevant verses are on a plaque outside one of the two gateways into the village: Dante compares the giants stationed around the ninth circle of hell to the towers crowning Monteriggioni’s walls.
Inside the walls Monteriggione is a minute mediaeval village with only a couple of streets and a small Romanesque-gothic chapel, needing only a few minutes to walk round. 30 years ago, it had no more than one tiny bar-cum-shop. But in response to the growth in tourism, the village has since been made to accommodate three bars, two restaurants, a 4-star hotel, two retail outlets for the local wine (nothing to write home about) and a number of souvenir shops. Surprisingly, none of these mars the mediaeval atmosphere.
Monteriggioni was a fortress founded by the Sienese in 1203, strategically placed on the road from Florence to serve as one of Siena’s outer defences against the constantly attacking Florentines. It had the reputation of being impregnable, and indeed did not fall until 1554, just before the final fall of Siena itself – and even then it only fell because of the treachery of the commander, who was himself of Florentine origin and - doubtless realising that Siena could not hold out much longer – betrayed Monteriggioni to the Medici in exchange for an indemnity for himself.
Also shown on the signs as Badia or Abbazia (all words for abbey) a Isola. From Monteriggioni, take the road towards Colle Val d’Elsa (left just before the superstrada). After a few hundred yards, turn left again. The abbey is a little way along on the left through an arch opposite a couple of cafés. To visit, ring the bell (marked in English) of the custodian’s house, which is on the right down the little alley just inside the arch to the right.
The abbey was founded in 1011 as a stopover place for pilgrims on the Via Francigena, the great mediaeval pilgrimage route from Northern Europe down to Rome and – for the really ambitious – on to Brindisi in the south to embark on a boat to Jerusalem. The name Isola (island) probably comes from the fact that it was built on high ground in an otherwise swampy area. The abbey church is now almost all that remains, and is a beautifully proportioned 11th century structure built of attractive white stone, with good (but difficult to see) carvings on the blind arcading at the top of the façade, and an elegant basilican interior with three apses. Unfortunately, after it stopped being used as an abbey, houses were built buttressed against the façade, and when they were removed considerable damage was caused. Inside, there is a capital carved with primitive figures to the right of the altar, and a pretty baptismal font near the door, with a carving of the baptism of Christ and dated 1419. The remains of the old cloister can be seen to the right of the church.
If the church is not open, the lady who lives at No.1 of the little alley (top bell) to the left has a key. The church used to contain a possible early Duccio of the Virgin and Child (although now attributed to an unknown master), extremely beautiful. This was removed to the Museo Civico in Colle Val d’Elsa in the 1980s, and all the church retains is a photograph. However, there remains a tryptich by Sano di Pietro over the altar and some 15th century frescoes on the side walls. On the left hand side there is a large fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin, a huge crowd of saints gathered below to speed her on her way. Doubting Thomas is shown holding up the belt she dropped down to him to prove that she was real. Her tomb is shown at the bottom full of roses – which is what the Apostles found when they checked the tomb to see if she had really left it. The painting is by is by Vincenzo Tamagno (1492-1530), a painter from San Gimignano. Nearer the door the same artist has left a well preserved fresco of St Blaise clutching the fearsome-looking iron wool-comb that he was tortured with.
Detail of the Assumption by Tamagni with roses in the tomb of the Virgin and St Thomas
catching her belt. The walls of Monteriggioni can be seen on the left. Photo by Lforzini.
There are two restaurants hidden away down the steps to the left of the church.
1994; revised 2003 and 2013.
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PAGANICO; SAN LORENZO al LANZO; AND BAGNI di PETRIOLO
Paganico
Paganico is the furthest (about 35 km from San Rocco a Pilli) and is just off the Grosseto road, well sign-posted. It is a workmanlike small town or large village that used to be a defensive point on Siena’s southern borders, and still has most of its 13th -14th walls, built on the instructions of the Sienese Senate. It has little to offer the visitor except for the frescoes in its church, San Michele Arcangelo, which are among the best preserved in any small church in the Senese.
The church is in the main square, and from the outside could not be plainer. The frescoes are in the chancel, behind the altar – if the young parroco (parish priest) is there, he will let you walk behind the altar to see them better. They have been recently restored, revealing the name of an artist called Biagio di Goro Guezzi, dated 1368. On the left wall, on the top there is a delightful Nativity, with the Child rather unusually being washed. Below, the middle fresco is a splendid rendering of St Michael the Archangel casting the devil out from heaven. The picture on the left shows a legend in which St Michael appeared in Puglia in the form of a bull and some hunters tried to shoot him, only to find their arrows turning round and coming back at them. On the right, St Michael appears above Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, delivering the city from the plague.
On the right wall, the upper scene is of the Adoration of the Magi. Below there is a Last Judgement, with the Virgin Mary giving souls a helping hand out of purgatory into heaven (the figure in green above is Wisdom); Archangel Michael in the middle; and the Devil on the other side, having collected only one soul compared to the many on the purgatory/heaven side; the Devil is clearly furious and is baring his teeth at the Archangel Michael (the parroco commented approvingly to us that this scene presents an optimistic picture of mankind). There are symbolic connections between the upper and lower scenes. For instance, although Michael is holding the baskets of the scales, the actual weighing is done by Christ and the chains can be seen going up to him. On the left hand side of the top scene, above the heavenly side of the Last Judgement, there are horses’ heads bowing to Jesus, whereas on the other side the horses have turned their rumps to Jesus, showing that those who accept Christ can expect heaven and those who reject him must expect hell.
To complete this wonderfully preserved series of frescoes, there is an Annunciation on either side of the window; the four evangelists in the vault and saints under the chancel arch.
There are three other good works in the church; a Madonna and Child by Guidoccio Cozzarelli (1450-1516) over the main altar; another Madonna and Child (about 1480) by Andrea di Niccolò (1445-1525) on the left wall; a huge and unfortunately damaged fresco of St Christopher on the right wall, and next to it, in a glass case over a side altar, an extraordinarily moving, not to say harrowing, painted wooden crucifix (15th century).
San Lorenzo al Lanzo, also known as Abbadia or Badia Ardenghesca
This abbey church is difficult of access and only for the enthusiasts. From Petriolo, go towards Paganico for about eight kilometres (ignoring the turn-off to the SS223) and take the right turn towards Civitella Maritttima. After 3 kilometres, turn right along a cypress alley (the road is sign-posted). From Paganico, take the road to Arcidosso and Castel del Piano, and turn off to the left along a pretty country road to Civitella Marittima and follow signs to Abbadia Ardenghesca. After about nine kilometers, turn left onto a very bumpy dirt road (signposted) and then after a further four kilometers right. The abbey church is about a kilometre on, on the right.
If approaching from the Grosseto road (SS 223), take the exit for Civitella Marittima. Coming from Grosseto, the abbey road is signposted almost as soon as you leave the slip road. If coming from Siena, go towards Civitella and almost immediately turn right onto the road signposted Siena that crosses onto the other side of the Grosseto superstrada, turning left before the slip road back onto the superstrada. Beware: between the Civitella exit and the abbey church there is a ford that can be a raging torrent in time of rain.
San Lorenzo is in a most beautiful wooded valley, with cypresses and umbrella pines (a good place for a picnic, except that it is almost below one of the spectacularly high viaducts over which the Grosseto road passes and there is a slight traffic roar). The church itself is closed, but there is an interesting travertine façade with capitals carved with fantastic beasts, including a one-headed two-bodied lion similar to that on one of the San Antimo capitals. A villa (usually deserted) has been created next to the abbey church, probably out of the remains of the monastic buildings.
For those not interested in picnics, Civitella has a good restaurant, la Locanda nel Cassero, offering an interesting modern take on traditional Tuscan fare at reasonable prices for the quality. It is right in the middle of the maze of narrow mediaeval streets of this typical hill village, however, and driving up into the village is a challenge, as is parking. The restaurant is closed on Tuesday, and also Wednesday lunchtime.
2003 and 2014.
Bagni (or Terme) di Petriolo
In a valley below another spectacular viaduct of the Grosseto superstrada, about 15 kilometres from San Rocco and well sign-posted, there is to be found the old spa (with remains of 15th century walls) of Petriolo. All that remains today is a small (free) bathing pool where the bad-egg-smelling hot waters spill out into the river, and an establishment where one can pay to have serious treatment. The public bathing pool used to be rather a muddy affair and was overwhelmed by a landslide a few years ago; it has now been reconstituted in a much improved form. The water is really quite hot (43°C), not necessarily what one wants in high summer.
The public pool at Petriolo
2003 and 2014.
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Pieve (Parish Church) of PONTE ALLO SPINO
This most attractive Romanesque church, all that remains of a former abbey, arises amid fields at a crossroads on the route from Barontoli to Sovicille. Although it is called a parish church, it is now only used for the occasional wedding and other special occasion and is usually closed. The woman who lives at the far end of the courtyard next door to the church has a key and will open it for visitors.
The church dates from the 12th century and is built of the most beautiful golden stone in a standard three-aisle basilica form. Its façade is decorated with bas-reliefs of strange beasts – a dragon on one side and an even stranger beast being led on a lead on the other side. There are also good carved capitals inside, the best (with figures) immediately inside the door. The others mainly have geometric shapes reminiscent of Celtic designs (there were Celtic settlements in the area in earlier times).
The remains of the cloister next door are being excavated and some Roman mosaics have apparently been found, although not yet viewable.
2005.
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PONTE DELLA PIA and ABBEY of SANTA LUCIA
About 13 km from Barontoli. Drive along the SS73 through Rosia. About 3km after leaving Rosia, the Ponte della Pia is on your left spanning the stream bed. There are small spaces next to the road in which to park on your left just before the bridge or on your right just beyond the bridge.
Photo by Hans G. Oberlack
Ponte della Pia is a hump-backed bridge over the Rosia ‘torrente’ (ie stream), a tributary of the Merse. It dates probably from Roman times. Cross the bridge and take the trail up the hill to the right. The paving stones of this ancient path are believed to be of Etruscan origin.
About 500 metres along the trail there a small tower on your left. Just before the tower make a sharp dog-leg turn to your left if you want to visit the ruins of the abbey or hermitage of Santa Lucia, which dates from the 12-13th centuries and retains traces of Gothic windows. The abbey was abandoned by the monks in the late eighteenth century and became a farmhouse, which doubtless accounts for the many fire-places in the building, untypical of the austere monastic life. The farmhouse was in its turn abandoned at the end of the 19th century. There is usually a wealth of wild flowers here, but be careful of the large potholes around the building; and also of broken floors if you venture within the building.
For a longer walk, without pot-holes, instead of turning left up towards Santa Lucia at the tower, simply continue along the original trail. It ascends gently and almost indefinitely through the woods, following the course of the Rosia torrente (we have only explored a couple of miles along: it is said ultimately to lead to San Galgano).
1980s
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The church (St John the Baptist or St Peter) is a simple and unpretentious structure of the twelfth century with an elegant Lombard campanile. Inside is an agreeable fifteenth century tryptich with Madonna and child with two saints; some remains of frescoes; and a pretty marble font. There used also to be a fine wooden statue of St John the Baptist by Domenico di Niccolo dei Cori (1363-1453). However, the Ministry of Cultural Goods decided that it was at too much risk in a small village church, and removed it to the Pinacoteca in Siena – all that is left in the church is a photograph of their lost treasure.
1989
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Drive to Volte Basse and, at the main road turn right and then almost immediately left, following the signs for Firenze until after about 6 kilometres when you take a turning to the left sign-posted Santa Columba. After a few kilometres, there is a road to the right up (sign-posted) to the village.
Santa Colomba is a very small village with a large and handsome villa at the entrance. It must have been important as a strong point in the past, as it had a fortress that was twice sacked in Sienese wars, the first time in 1364 by the soldiers of that great English mercenary or condottiere John Hawkwood, known in Italy as Giovanni Acuto. The fortress was left in a ruinous state, but at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1586), the most famous Sienese architect of his day, turned it into a gracious country house, installing a handsome spiral staircase inside. Only the massive stone base at the side of the building still hints at its more warlike past. After its completion in 1512 it became the summer residence of the Petrucci family, then the rulers of Siena. The façade was slightly remodelled in the 17th and two enormous and uninteresting wings were added in the 18th century. It is privately owned and the inside cannot be visited, but the handsome façade can be admired from the road.
The Romanesque church, on the other side of the road from the villa, looks rather small and boring from outside, but inside it is surprisingly spacious and contains some interesting remains of frescoes attributed to the early painter Segna di Bonaventura (active 1298-1331). A very faded Nativity can just be made out on the left, with the shepherds and their flocks and a huge sheepdog, and angels at the top. There is a better preserved crucifix on the right of the altar.
For good views, drive through the village and on up the dirt track. The road goes past the village cemetery and a number of villas – mostly old farmhouses recently restored and now either inhabited by the bourgeoisie of Siena or rented out as holiday lets. The road ends after a kilometre or so in a group of farmhouses. On clear days, looking back towards the village, there are fine views of Siena, and indeed of the whole plain to the south of Siena, including San Rocco and Barontoli. There are also often good wildflowers and butterflies.
For a wander in the Montagnola, the mountainous area to the south-east of Siena, park near the group of farmhouses at the end and walk up to the right between the two groups of farm buildings into the wood where there is a track that winds on up for miles.
1985. Revised 2012.
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About 15 km from Barontoli. Go to Sovicille and follow signs first to Ancaiano and then to Tegoia.
Tegoia is the hill village that you see overlooking Barontoli from the hills to the west. It has perhaps the most spectacular views over Siena of anywhere in the neighbourhood. It also provides the point of departure for an interesting walk to the hamlet of Molli, now almost deserted but with a small Romanesque ‘pieve’ (parish church). The church is often shut, and even when open it is of limited interest. So this is an expedition for the views and the walks rather than the art.
Drive through the village of Tegoia, pausing to admire the extraordinary vies on the right. Park at one of the widenings on the dirt road beyond (you can drive all the way up to Molli but it is pretty bumpy). Then walk up the dirt road, keeping to the right at the fork, and after about 1½ kilometres you will come to the small cluster of buildings that is Molli. The church, at the top on the right, is a very simple 11th century structure. Its cemetery (which is still used) is another 300 metres along the ridge.
In Molli, you are on the crest of the main ridge of the mountains with fine views in several directions. If you want to walk further, you can either go on beyond the cemetery, or return to the fork below Molli for a gently contoured path through the woods that takes you onto the western flank of the mountains, i.e. the side invisible from Barontoli.
The area round Molli was the scene of much partisan action during the last war, and memorials to those shot by the Germans are scattered around.
1992
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About 10 km from Barontoli. Drive through Rosia and turn left at the end of the village. Torri is well signposted from there on. On the untarred approach road to the village, it is best to take the right hand fork (via Carlo Costa) to avoid having to drive up the narrow village street). Open 9.00-12.00 on Mondays and Fridays only. Free.
Torri is a picturesque hill village with stone-paved streets. It was the site of the Benedictine monastery of St Mustiola, dating from the 11th century and active until 1682 when it was taken over by the state and sold. All that remains of the abbey today is a small basilica-shaped 12th century church of only moderate interest, usually shut, and the tiny but exquisite Romanesque cloister, now part of a private house. The buildings are right at the top of the village, through a low arch.
The lower arcade of the cloister is 11th or 12th century with black and white Sienese stripes and interesting capitals, different on each column. Immediately opposite the entrance the biblical scenes represented on the capitals include Adam and Eve and the serpent (note on the side of the capital the angel with a shining sword guarding the way into the Garden of Eden). A neighbouring capital portrays the history of Cain and Abel with on one side the brothers offering their rival sacrifices to God, who shows his preference by pointing at the lamb offered by Abel rather than Cain’s sheaves, while on another side Cain is killing Abel. Another capital shows Noah’s Ark, with the dove returning empty-beaked on one side and then returning with the olive branch on the other.
Other capitals have allegorical figures. The dove eating grapes alludes to divine grace; the bee-hive is the symbol of orderly human society under the supreme authority of God; the double-tailed mermaid represents the attraction of evil; the axe embedded in a piece of wood is probably the emblem of a local corporation.
The upper arcade of the cloister is of wood and dates from the 14th-15th century. On emerging from the cloister, note the trompe l’oeil painted windows on the building opposite the church – this is a fairly frequent Sienese effect.
On the right of the entrance to the cloister stands the austere Romanesque-gothic church of the Holy Trinity and St Mustiola (an obscure Roman martyr), with an elegant carved doorway.
If the church is open, the inside is worth a glance. It is entirely striped like Siena cathedral (possibly a 19th century addition), and has a handsome Romanesque altar in which some bones are kept in a reliquary. They were dug up near the church during a restoration, and nobody knlows if they belong to a saint or a sinner. The painting of the Madonna and Child above the altar is by the Sienese painter Luca di Tomme’ (1356-1390).
Note also the trompe l’oeil painted windows on the building opposite the church – this is a fairly frequent Sienese effect.
Revised 1990s and 2013
