Tuscan forest mystery - rediscovering a mediaeval bridge in Tuscany

It's fairly well-known that if you wander off the roads around Sovicille and other places in the Val di Merse of Tuscany, you'll stumble across monasteries and hermitages, some inhabited, some in ruins, hidden in the forest. Perhaps less well-known are the forest mysteries of the Chianti region. Today, I would like to describe the ruins of an imposing mediaeval bridge built over the river Pesa, near the Grignano towerhouse, famous as the home of Raymond Flower, the author to whom we owe much of the fame the region of Chianti all over the world.

Grignano towerhouse, home of Raymond Flower

The site of the bridge is easily accessible through a narrow forest road that begins almost exactly in front of the sign indicating the southern border of the municipality of Greve in Chianti, located at kilometer 34 on the regional road Chiantigiana 222 (which connects Florence to Sienna). After a 5 minute walk, the forest road reaches the site where there once stood a bridge built in the 11th and 12th centuries to carry the new mediaeval road built to connect Panzano in Chianti with Castellina in Chianti, replacing two Etruscan-Roman tracks.

The remaining arch of the mediaeval bridge near Grignano in Tuscany

Not so many years ago, this structure was studied by Andrea Garuglieri, who proposed a reconstruction of the original appearance of the bridge (Garuglieri's drawing below is from the book Dal Chianti romano al Chianti altomedievale, by Renato Stopani). According to this reconstruction, the bridge had three arches, like the mediaeval bridge still in existence at Sambuca Val di Pesa and was therefore truly impressive for the period. The remaining single arch confirms a high level of engineering.

Andrea Garuglieri's drawing for his proposal of how the bridge appeared originally

The location of the bridge near the river Pesa, hidden by vegetation in a kind of well-preserved natural environment, makes it an absolutely very special place to be and something that I recommend historically-minded visitors to our area to seek out.

References:
Raymond Flower Chianti: the land, the people and the wine (Croom Helm 1978)
Renato Stopani Dal Chianti romano al Chianti altomedievale

Cultural tours of Tuscany with Nicola Bernini Nicola Bernini is a licensed tour guide specialising in the Siennese and Florentine provinces of Tuscany. Nicola's scholarly tours allow you to enjoy and learn about the wonderful off-the-beaten track treasures of Tuscany. More about Nico's Tuscan cultural tours.

Nicola Bernini

All content copyright © Nicola Bernini 2013. All rights reserved.

Santa Margherita a Montici: a place of mediaeval murder!

Right at the summit of the hill called Montici on the outskirts of Florence, not so far away from the charming Pian dei Giullari district and behind the magnificent basilica and monastery of San Miniato al Monte, stands the romanesque church of Santa Margherita a Montici. Despite the beauty of this area, during the Middle Ages and specifically in the year 1350, there took place here one of the most barbaric and at the same time theatrical murders that ever happened in Florence. This event would be worthy of Hollywood scriptwriters if only the participants were not real people!

The church of Santa Margherita a Montici near Florence.

Let's follow what Luca di Totto da Panzano – basically one of the two protagonists of this story - has to say in his memoirs (published in Il Chianti nei libri di famiglia del Medioevo by Renato Stopani). This tragic event occured on the 13th of June, 1350, when Luca learned from one of his most trusted friends that Carlo Gherardini, the murderer of his brother and whom he had sought for the past four years long, was happily having lunch in Santa Margherita in Montici. Luca decided to go there immediately and try to lay his hands on Carlo to avenge his brother's death. The first thing Luca did was to get together as many men as he could and then, as soon as he reached the church, to lay down a siege. Luca was so speedy in making his arrangements that Carlo Gherardini had only enough time to take refuge at the top of the bell tower in an attempt to survive the very dangerous situation before him. The siege lasted until sunset, attracting hundreds of curious onlookers from the city, but no one could convince Luca to desist from his intention, not even the mayor of Florence. Around sunset, after several hours spent on the bell tower, Carlo decided to surrender and, as soon as he came down, he was killed by Luca and his people.

Outdoor mediaeval play during the "Festa della Stagion Bona"on the 25th of April at Panzano in Chianti.

For almost 50 years, every 25th of April, in Panzano in Chianti, hometown of both Carlo and Luca, this tragic event has been relived, with some poetic license, in the form of a mediaval popular play, during the Festa della Stagion Bona. The 25th of April is also Liberation Day in Italy, and the costume parade and the play depicting the fate of Carlo Gherardini taking place at Panzano on this day are well worth attending.

More about Panzano in Chianti.

More about the Festa della Stagion Bona.

Cultural tours of Tuscany with Nicola Bernini Nicola Bernini is a licensed tour guide specialising in the Siennese and Florentine provinces of Tuscany. Nicola's scholarly tours allow you to enjoy and learn about the wonderful off-the-beaten track treasures of Tuscany. More about Nico's Tuscan cultural tours.

Nicola Bernini

All content copyright © Nicola Bernini 2013. All rights reserved.

Porta San Giorgio in Florence, a part of the Florentine past well worth a visit

The picturesque Florentine street called Costa San Giorgio, situated in the Oltrarno part of Florence roughly between the River Arno and the Boboli Gardens, begins near the lovely Church of Santa Felicita. If we walk along Costa San Giorgio for about 10 minutes, passing the house at No. 19 where Galileo Galilei lived for several years, we arrive at Porta San Giorgio in Florence, a part of the Florentine past well worth a visit. The gate is named after the St. George of dragon fame and, indeed, embedded above the arch of the gate there is a bas relief of St. George slaying the dragon. The original bas relief, now housed in the Palazzo Vecchio, was carved by Andrea Pisano, the best sculptor in Florence at that time and who created the south door of the Baptistry of Florence.

The Porta San Giorgio in Florence

The decoration of the gate includes a fine fresco by a Lorenzo di Bicci of a Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Leonard and George. If we make allowance for the fact that the gate was lowered in 1529 at the suggestion of Michelangelo because of the siege of Florence at the hands of the imperial army led by Emperor Charles V, the gate is still today in an excellent state of preservation, giving us a very truthful vision of how it appeared 500 years ago. Interestingly, Giovanni Stradano executed a beautiful picture of the siege of 1529, including the Porta San Giorgio, in one of the frescoes that adorn the Sala di Clemente VII in Palazzo Vecchio.

Giovanni Stradano: The Siege of Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, Sala di Clemente VII.

The topographical location of Porta San Giorgio also offers the opportunity to visit nearby Forte Belvedere, also visible in Stradano's fresco, where we can enjoy a breathtaking view out over Florence, and visit the modest but very beautiful church of San Leonardo in Arcetri, home of the pulpit praised by Boccaccio in his "Divina Commedia", almost 700 years before the arrival of Roberto Benigni ....

Cultural tours of Tuscany with Nicola Bernini Nicola Bernini is a licensed tour guide specialising in the Siennese and Florentine provinces of Tuscany. Nicola's scholarly tours allow you to enjoy and learn about the wonderful off-the-beaten track treasures of Tuscany. More about Nico's Tuscan cultural tours.

Nicola Bernini

All content copyright © Nicola Bernini 2013. All rights reserved.