COLLE DI VAL DI ELSA
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Colle di Val d'Elsa, or Colle Val D'Elsa, is a town in the province of Siena, on the route of the ancient Via Francigena, the medieval highway frequented by pilgrims and merchants travelling to Rome from Canterbury and elsewhere in northern Europe. Its name means "Hill of Elsa Valley", where "Elsa" is the name of the river which crosses it. In 1269 it was the seat of a famous battle during the wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines. From the XIV century it was a possession of Florence and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the unification of Italy in 1860. The oldest part of the town is the "Colle Alta", the higher part, with a well preserved medieval center. The town developed along the river from the XI century onwards, building an artificial canal to power various industrial activities, such as wheat mills and paper factories. The city is also famous as the birthplace of the sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.
Among the many features and attributes which can be ascribed to Colle di Val d'Elsa, that which is most dear to local people, is the title of "Città del Cristallo", "Home of Lead-Glass Crystal" (15% of world production). Since 1331, glass production, which evolved into lead-crystal production in the XX century, has been one of the most typical features of the town, which over the centuries, for this reason, has been called the "Bohemia of Italy", and is now the "Home of the Lead-Glass Crystal". The main difference between glass and lead-crystal is the presence of Lead Oxide. The presence of this oxide gives the glass certain characteristics which make it particularly interesting, since the lead leads to a marked increase in the density of the glass, and thus in its refractive index. In this way the glass comes close to the optical properties of diamonds: the incoming light is refracted to a greater degree than with normal glass, thereby giving the effect of great brilliance that is typical of lead glass. The effect increases with an incresce in the content of Lead Oxide, but only glass which contains at least 24% lead oxide by weight has the legal right to be called "lead-crystal glass". Only skilful adjustments in the composition of the glass, by specialized chemists, working side by side whit master glass-makers, make the lead glass clear, transparent, brilliant, stable, and worthy of the name lead-crystal.
Porta Nuova (New Gate)
In olden times, to pilgrims travelling along the road from Volterra to Colle di Val d'Elsa, the sight of the majestic and impressive "Porta Nuova" (New Gate), with its large, round bastions, must certainly have been striking in its monumentality, as an emblem of the town's beauty and importance. The monument represented the central role played by Colle di Val d'Elsa in the war between Florence, with its dependent territories, and the city of Siena. The gate on the Volterra road was built on the site of the outdated "Porta Selva", which was destroyed by troops allied to the Sienese during the siege of 1479. At the time, the bastions and the battlements were already present, while the gateway as it appears today, giving access to the "Borgo di Santa Caterina", was built together with the new outer walls by the Florentine architects Cecca, Francione and Giuliano da San Gallo.
Palazzo Renieri-Portigiani (Renieri-Portigiani Palace)
Palazzo Renieri-Portigiani, currently the home of the town hall, is fronted by a facade in ashlar masonry and a huge crest of the Medici family. The palace was built at the request of Bernardino Renieri, who held the post of engineer at the French court of Charles IX, and who has appointed "Guelfa architect" in the service of Francesco I de' Medici. Dated to between 1575-1580, the building is stylistically similar to the palaces designed in the Florentine "manner" by Bartolomeo Ammannati, and is marked by the two-tone use of colour based on terracotta tiles and travertine.
Piticciano Castle
The Piticciano Castle, more simply known as "Castello", comprises fortification walls, three roads, and two main squares. Opening onto these squares are charming vaulted tunnels, and they are lined by medieval towers and XVI century palaces.
Piazza del Duomo (Duomo Square)
Piazza Duomo was the nerve centre of the town's political and religious power. Facing it are important buildings such as "Palazzo del Podestà", "Palazzo del Comune" and the Cathedral (the former Pieve of San Salvatore). "Palazzo del Podestà", or the Police Magistrate's Palace, which according to tradition was built in 1365, has several heraldic crests on its facade as well as inside the building. These represent the various "Podestà" and Commissioners who held power through the ages, and dominant amongst them are the crests of Colle and of Florence. Two tall structures stand alongside the building: on the left the former tower of the Comune, which collapsed in 1636, and on the right the bell-tower of the cathedral, built in 1632. The "Palazzo Pretorio" is the current location of the Archeological Museum which houses important Etruscan finds: jewels and ceremonial pots found in the necropolises throughout the Upper Elsa Valley. Of special interest is the so-called "Girl from Le Porciglia" the skeletal remians of a girl, dating to the VI century BC, still wearing a gold earring, alongside which there is a faithful reconstruction of her face, produced with the help of modern technology.
Cathedral of the Saints Alberto and Marziale
The Cathedral of the Saints Alberto and Marziale, with its broad XIX century facade, is notable for having been built in various different phases. Building work began (from 1603-1630) after the formation of the Diocese of Colle (1592), while the seven sandstone arches, visible on the left-hand side of the building, are all that remains of the former facade of the Romanesqe Pieve of San Salvatore, dating to the XII century, and which was not incorporated into the XVII century building. Inside, the Cathedral is a genuine treasure-trove of museum pieces: a number of masterpieces by Senese and Florentine artists from the end of the XVI century and the beginning of the XVII century are located above the altars. These artists include Poppi, Tacca, Rutilio Manetti, and Ottavio Vannini; two elegant XVIII century chapels with paintings by Giovanni Odazzi and Bartolomeo Chiari, and the XV century pulpit by Domenico Rosselli. In the basement underneath the Cathedral, preceded by a long flight of steps, one finds what used to be the first "Confraternita della Misericordia": here, beneath the XVIII century frescoes, temporary exhibitions and art shows are mounted.
Teatro dei Varii (Theatre of the Varii)
The "Teatro dei Varii", which was once a former hospital along the Via Francigena in the XIII century, shows the external signs of its medieval past in the row of double lancet windows with central columns each bearing a capital with a different kind of decoration; inside, meanwhile, the building has become an Italian theatre, with three tiers of boxes, restored in the XIX century: however, one can see its XVIII century origin, thanks to the plans of Ferdinando Morozzi, Antonio Bibbiena and Odoardo Ferrati.
Church of Santa Maria in Canonica
The small Church of Santa Maria in Canonica presents clear features of the Pisan Romanesque style, dating to the XII and XIII centuries, although according to tradition its original are far older than that. Tradition has it that the bell-tower, adapted from a pre-existing tower, contains the famous Martinella, the bell which rang on a Sienese military chariot, and which was captured by the Guelfs of Colle during the Battle of Colle in 1269.
Church of Sant'Agostino
The Church of Sant'Agostino and the adjacent monastery of hermit monks, dating to the XIV century, shows the rebuilding of 1521 at the hands of Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. The church's interior, with three naves divided by columns, still retains traces of ancient frescoes recently uncovered beneath the plaster-work, together with works by artists ranging from the XV century up to the threshold of the XVII century, including Taddeo di Bartolo, Giovan Battista Pozzo, Giovan Battista Poggi and Cigoli.
Sanctuary of Santa Maria of the Graces
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria of the Graces, dating to the XV century, rises in the village of "Le Grazie", with its fine porticoes and, on its facade, an oeil-de-boeuf surrounded by a XVI century wreath of flowers in the Della Robbia style. Inside the church, lining the entrance, there are XVI century frescoes by Giovanni Maria Tolosani, a painter from Colle, while on the altar is placed the image of "La Madonna delle Grazie" (XIV-XV century).
Abbey of Santa Maria Assunta in Coneo
The Abbey of Coneo was founded by the Vallombrosani (Benedictine) monks at the start of the XII century, in the Romanesque style, and constitutes one of the greatest examples of religious architecture in the local area. Its plan is in the shape of the Latin cross, which is a feature typical of Vallombrosani buildings, and at the point where the nave meets the transept there rises a sectioned dome, which forms an octagonal shape inside. The internal capitals, and the cornice which runs round the outside of the building, are decorated with starred flowers and other geometrical deviced, of great artistic beauty. The building comprises a number of pre-Romanesque features, with numerous external brackets in the shape of imaginary animals.
Pieve of the Saints Ippolito and Cassiano in Coneo
The country church of Saints Ippolito and Cassiano existed as far back as the X century, and was later part of the bishopric of Volterra, while towards the end of the XII century it came into the sphere of political influence of the municipality of Colle. From that time on, it did not enjoy a particularly flourishing period, perhaps on account of a reduction in the local population. Whatever the explanation, as early as 1413 it was found to be largely in ruins. Nor did it meet a different fate during the XVII century, when it belonged to members of the Picchena family. Originally, the church had a basilica-like structure with an apse, and a wooden roof. The building which we see today, however, is the product of various renovations in the medieval period, indeed it is believed that work on it during the Romanesque period lasted for over 50 years: from the end of the XII century until the middle of the XIII century.
Lead-Crystal Glass Museum
The Lead-Crystal Glass Museum, unique among museums in the Siena area and unique museum in this sector in all of Italy, displays finds, materials, and objects relating to the production first of glass, and then later on of lead-crystal glass, both in the historical and the modern periods. Glass-working, and the later production of lead-crystal glass, is one of the activities which have been a feature of industry in Colle since at least 1331, and it continues to this day; and the Museum pays tribute to this tradition, with displays linked to lead-crystal, its history, to the technology of its manufacture, and to the ways in which it is currently produced.
Piazza Arnolfo (Arnolfo Square)
Piazza Arnolfo, with porticoes on three sides and an obelisk in the middle in commemoration of those who died in the Great War, is the nerve center of the Piano district. The site of fairs and markets, the square is also a place for people to meet and to stroll, and there are numerous bars and restaurants, as well as the old railway station with its large external arches, which was inaugurated in 1885 and which was in use until 1991.
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