Pieve a Castello Seasons: Summer’s Best – Independent

Places to visit

San Gimignano: The ‘city of the towers’ is irresistibly charming and perfectly preserved. Highlights include the Collegiata (former cathedral) with wonderful frescoes, the Museum of Modern Art, Museo Civico (Civic Museum, which includes a chance to climb the Torre Grossa, the city’s tallest tower) and Museum of Torture. In addition to the cultural delights of San Gimignano, this is the place to do your shopping – local wines, wild boar products, olivewood, pottery and leather goods at reasonable prices!

Colle di Val d’Elsa: ‘Colle’ holds true to itself as a working town, the wool, paper and flour industries previously thrived here while today it is crystal and fine glass. Colle Alta, the quaint, upper part of the old town, perches on a narrow ridge.

Monteriggioni: A beautifully sited and perfectly preserved village encased within 13th century walls, complete with watchtowers. In the main square is a small Romanesque church with a pretty façade.

Siena: is one of the most perfectly preserved medieval cities in Europe, with an abundance of outstanding 14th and 15th century art and architecture, from the famous Piazza del Campo, scene of the spectacular horse race ‘Il Palio’ contested by the historic ‘contrade’ into which the city is traditionally – and passionately! – divided, to galleries filled with iconic medieval masterpieces, and the great cathedral.

Florence: This magnificent city built on the banks of the Arno was the cradle of Renaissance of the arts in Italy under the aegis of the powerful ruling Medici family. Now, the world’s foremost ‘Art City’ with museums and art galleries galore, most notably the Uffizi. The Duomo (cathedral) and numerous churches across the city also house outstanding art and architecture, making it one of the most fascinating cities to visit in Europe.

Volterra: lacks the hordes of tourists of other Tuscan hilltop towns. One of the largest and most important of the 12 Etruscan city states, it still features the remains of Etruscan walls, gateways, and circular tombs from the 6th century BC, as well as a well-preserved Roman theatre and baths. Make sure to visit one of the workshops where you can see alabastrai, at work. This soft, white rock is perfect for carving.

Food & Wine

Tuscan food is simple and uses good local ingredients which complement the excellent robust wines of the region. It is seasonal food usually prepared with home grown ingredients. Although the Tuscans are called ‘bean eaters’ (mangiafagioli) the main staple of their diet, apart from pasta, is bread, which is traditionally unsalted to complement the salted prosciutto, salami and strong sheep’s cheeses. Whilst it is a traditional cuisine, it is not a poor one, and meat and game feature strongly, preferably cooked on an open fire. The Tuscans also have a sweet tooth, producing a variety of rich spicy cakes full of candied fruit and nuts, and light biscuits. The local cheese is predominantly pecorino (a sheep’s cheese: ‘pecora’ means ‘sheep’) enjoyed at varying stages of maturity.

Pieve a Castello is based in the Chianti wine making region, which occupies a large area of hills to the south (and east) of Florence, and Pieve a Castello is located in the designated Chianti zone called Colli Senesi (Sienese Hills), one of seven regions within Chianti. Alongside the more ‘serious’ Chianti Riserva are produced other, less expensive ‘quaffing’ Chianti made to be drunk within a year or so of production – an excellent accompaniment to local dishes. To the south of Siena, there are other superb local red wines, notably Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which, with their full-bodied character and strong tannins, complement Tuscan cuisine very well. The less aged red of Montalcino is also very good indeed. You may have the opportunity to try other excellent Tuscan wines including Vernaccia, the white wine for which nearby San Gimignano is famous, the delicious wines from Bolgheri in the coastal province of Livorno, as well as the delicious Tuscan ‘passito’ dessert wine, Vin Santo.

History

The history of Tuscany has been one of invasion and conquest from earliest times. Yet interspersed within these periods of war and rivalry were times of great cultural, political and economic brilliance. These were most notably during the Etruscan period from the 8th century BC – most of the towns and villages in this area are built on Etruscan foundations. Roman colonisation occurred from the 2nd century BC. From the 12th century, many Tuscan cities prospered finding great wealth through new-found trades such as banking and wool. This led to the prominence of Siena, which became one of Europe’s greatest cities. During the 14th century, local family disputes and city rivalries resulted in the annexation of Sienese territories by Florence. Sienese towns and villages declined and have remained essentially preserved in their medieval state to the present day.