MONTERIGGIONI
toscana
THE HISTORY
Monteriggioni is without doubt one of the most classical and best known Italian walled town. The Circular Walls, nearly intact, are of an elliptic form and enclose the summit of a high hill called Monte Ala which dominates the surrounding hills and plains. The village is of a modest dimensions and could never enjoy an expansion due to the bad condition of its walls. Well-known since the XI century as station of standstill on the Francigena Road in Tuscany, its fame so great that also the great poet Dante makes sign to his "round enclosure" in the Divine Comedy (Hell, chant XXXI). The town was built by the Senesis in the years 1213-1219 on a hillock at dominion and overlooking of the Cassia Road, around a site of a previous Longobard rural settlement. Its ideal position allowed to control the Elsa and the Staggia Valleys in direction of Florence, the historic enemy of Siena, that at that time was rapidly expanding its territory.
Over the centuries, the castle named Monteriggioni was the scene of many battles until in the August of 1544 when Captain Giovannino Zeti, reached an agreement with the Florentines and, in exchange for safe passage and his personal honour as a soldier, handed over the fortress, until then impregnable. The betrayal of this exiled Florentine, caused the collapse of the Siennese defences and marked the beginning of the end of the Siennese Republic. The inhabitants of Monteriggioni were taken to Florence as slaves and nothing more could be found about them. Despite the fact that Monteriggioni was conquered, it was not enough to damage its reputation as an unconquerable fortress. From under the Republic of Siena, the Castle came under the Medici who then sold it to the Golia family. It was then passed on the Batta, Visconti, Fabbroni, Daddi and in 1704 to the Accarigi. The last descendent of the Accarigi then passed on the Castle to the Griccioli family who still has own some of the surrounding field. Around the castle walls of Monteriggioni a moat was built between 1229 and 1230 but little or no trace of this can be seen today, it appears that, in times of siege, it was filled with coals and ignited to ward off the attacks of the enemy. The walls, that jealously guard a surprising corner of Medieval history, cover a lenght of 570 meters and are alterned by 14 towers (with a 15th tower that can be seen only from the inside) and two gates (the entrances to the Castle). The Senese gate rises at the base of a tower while that toward Florence is opened in the curtain and defended from one of the towers of the fortified perimeter. The towers rise above the walls by 6,5 metres, in the Middle Ages their was of 15 metres. The original number of the towers was 15 but now the only visible ones are 11 and they are those that tower over the walls. The other 4 are of the walls' height. There was a passage-way at the top of the walls that enabled guards to walk round the circular walls.
THE CITY
"Porta Romea" - Romea Gate
The Romea Gate was the principal gate of Monteriggioni. On the gate you can find the headstone of the 1213 and the headstone of the referendum of annexation to joined Italy on March 15th 1860. The gate had a iron grill to slide quickly down to block attacking anemies.
"Porta San Giovanni" - San Giovanni Gate
This gate is the other entrance of Monteriggioni, the gate that looks at Florence.
"Piazza Roma" - Roma Square
Roma Square is the main square of Monteriggioni, and despite having the characteristics of Tuscan villages it also makes one think of the countryside due to the vegetation of its surrounding fields and gardens and especially of the green lawn between the paved. Here you can fnd the principal monuments and shops of Monteriggioni.
"Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta" - Santa Maria Assunta Church
The Church of Monteriggioni is a small parish church built in 1219 and named Santa Maria Assunta. In Romanesque-Gothic style, it is made up of a single very wide nave covered with vaults closely-fitted to the ceiling's trusses. The nave ends with a square apse having the gothic-styled cross-vaults. Behind the main altar there is a ligneous choir which dates back to the XVI century. The facade is polychromatic and built from travertine lime and "pietra serena". Above it, there is a big portal overlapping an archivolt which has an eye with decorations in brick. The bell-tower was built in the XVIII century by the pievese Mecacci who according to tradition used material from the old church of "San Giovanni a Stecchi". The inside of the church contains: 2 tabernacles dating back to the XV century; a painting of "La Madonna del Vanni"; a ligneous crucifix; a bell dating back to the year 1298 donated by the Republic of Siena.
"Torre Via Matteotti" - Matteotti Tower
This is the oldess building of Monteriggioni.
"Chiesa di San Giovanni" - San Giovanni Church
The Church of San Giovanni Evangelista belongs to the original nucleus of Monteriggioni, before the Sienese intervention of transformation in the imposing fortitude.
ART AND RELIGION
For a thousand years, right back to the XI century, many travellers have crossed this territory, and it is for this reason that there are many churches , castles and medieval villages, originally built on Longobard settlements. In a space measuring less 70 square kilometres you can find an entire medieval and renaissance world where people live and work. The particularly characteristic villages of Abbadia Isola, Strove and Colle Ciupi are typical rural villages of the ancient Tuscan feudal hertland. You can explore this unique corner of Tuscany by car, on foot or horseback, on a motorbike or mountain bike, to discover, hidden in solitary chapels and small churches, paintings of the Duccesca school or even the work of the famous masters of the Siennese school. If you follow the routes of the ancient pilgrims you will discover a unique fusion of art and nature that makes this region unforgettable.
ABBADIA ISOLA
A place that must not be missed is the nearby village of Abbadia Isola, the Island, so named in ancient times because of its raised position with respect to the marshland that encircled it. This village grew around a Cistercian Abbey called San Salvatore, founded in 1001 by Ava, a member of the noble Lombardi family who were lords of the surrounding lands.
The site was chosen because of its proximity to the Via Francigena and the Abbey offered shelter and aid to pilgrims travelling along the ancient way. The Abbey gradually controlled more and more of the surrounding territory in the centuries that followed and acquired land and castles. But the position of the Abbey on the boarders of the lands controlled by Siena and Florence, exposed the church to situations of continuous tension. It consequently became the scene of many military and political episodes until its final decline in the 1300's. The plan of the church in the village of Abbadia Isola follows the basilican style with three aisles leading to three apses. There is a beautiful central stairway on the inside, a baptismal font dating back the 1400's and a precious polyptych attributed to Sano di Pietro dated 1478, recently restored thanks to the contribution of the Pro Loco. On the right side of the church one can admire the cloister built in the Benedictine style dating back to 1062, used as a refuge for pilgrims on their way to Rome. The church exploited the prosperity created by the passage of the pilgrims as they travelled along the Via Francigena, and it prospered up until the XIV century when it suffered a period of decline, and the structure was used for agricultural purposes to the beginning of the 1900's. What was once the cellar, today is used as the Tourist Information Office while a large area of the building will be completely renovated for use as a permanent cultural centre for the Via Francigena plus a museum and exhibition area.
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