One of the highlights of Time of Your Life Tour's Taste of Tuscany Tour is the day we spend in the Tuscan hills. We visit Siena with its jewel of a cathedral, San Gimignano with its towers and award-winning gelato, and enjoy a sumptuous lunch accompanied by the exquisite local white wine, Vernaccia, at a working farm and vineyard.
But on the tour last October we had an additional stop that made the day even more special. We spent some time in the little town of Monteriggioni which is entirely enclosed in a walled medieval fortress. Seeing this ancient town is like stepping back in time.
Sitting atop a small hill, this beautiful village in the Chianti region of
the Siena Province of Tuscany was built in the 13th century by the
overlords of
Siena to command the main roads running through the area.
Monteriggioni conforms almost perfectly to the archetypal idea of a medieval walled village.The walls and towers are virtually intact, and the
visual effect from a distance is quite astonishing. It's a castle floating above the countryside.
Today inside the village there is
almost no traffic, making it feel even more like nothing has
changed in centuries.
Most of the buildings inside the walls of Monteriggioni are the original structures. It is one of the best preserved medieval villages in Italy.
The more or less circular walls with a total length of about 570 meters were built between 1213 and 1219, following the natural contours of the hill. There are fourteen towers on square bases and two portals or gates.
Off the main piazza, smaller streets
give way to public gardens fronted by the other houses and small
businesses of the town. Back in more hostile times, these gardens
provided to the inhabitants during dark days of siege warfare.
There was a real need for a defensive stronghold in this now peaceful area of farms and vineyards. It played a key role in the defense of nearby Siena, safeguarding the roads and also the farms that provided sustenance to that often besieged city.
The castle fortress occupied a strategic position in the on-going conflicts between Siena and Florence during the Middle Ages when Florence was determined to increase its territory. From the 13th to the 16th century,Monteriggioni successfully resisted every attack and siege.
However, what Florence could not do by force, it ultimately achieved by guile. The Sienese had placed control of the town's garrison in the hands of one Giovannino Zeti, who had been exiled from Florence. Reconciling with the Medicis in 1554, in what is known in Monteriggioni as the "great betrayal", he simply handed the keys of the town over to the captain of the Medici force.
Today, this lovely village no longer stands between warring neighbors. Instead it offers great views, charming cafes and shops, and a chance to imagine what life was like long ago.
We are pleased to have this addition to our tours, and last fall our clients agree it was the icing on the cake of a most special day in Tuscany. I can't wait to visit Monteriggioni again with the next tour.
