Monteriggioni
During this tour we will discover together the history and characteristics of the fortress of Monteriggioni, living once again its most important and exciting moments of the past. Together, with our guides, we will be able to reach the walkway of the city’s walls and visit the museum of medieval armors.
Monteriggioni is the main border fortress built by the Sienese on the Via Francigena in the 13th century as a military outpost against Florence.
Dante himself was impressed by the huge towers that surrounded its walls and mentions them in the 21th canto of the Hell of the famous Divine Comedy.
Today it is a beautiful place for the many tourists who stop there before reaching Siena or the Via del Chianti Classico.
Colle Val d’Elsa
“Colle” which means “hill”, as the Tuscans call it, is a place rich of history and traditions. Our guides will take you through the most fascinating monuments of Colle Alta, the oldest and best preserved part of the town: the Palazzo Campana, the Sapia’s Bastion, the Via delle Volte, the Cathedral dedicated to the Santi Alberto and Marziale where the relic of the Holy Nail is preserved, the Pieve di Santa Maria in Canonica and the Tower of Arnolfo.
Upon request, you may add to the guided tour:
Visit to the Museum of Lead-Crystal Glass, craft for which the Colle’s artisans are masters with no match since the Middle Ages, and a visit to one of the factories that still in our days works the glass combining technology and tradition.
Visit to the Museum of Arte Sacra. The museum houses a valuable collection of gold-ground paintings and the Tesoro di Galognano, a rare eucharistic silver set from the 6th century, the Maestà del Maestro di Badia a Isola and a polychrome wooden crucifix of the 13th century. Among other works, the Madonna and Child by Segna di Bonaventura and the Madonna and Child with Saints by Pier Francesco Fiorentino.
Visit to the Archeological Museum Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli. The museum displays collections from Etruscan coming from the territory of Colle di Val d ‘Elsa and Monteriggioni. The most important finds are represented by the set of the late-orientalizing period tomb of Campiglia dei Foci, known as Tomba Pierini, and the reconstruction of an Etruscan girl’s face, buried 2,500 years ago in a tomb around the area of Le Porciglia.
This tour may also be combined with tours of San Gimignano or Certaldo.
Certaldo
Durata massima 6 ore
A guided tour to discover the history and the breathtaking landscapes of one of the most beautiful medieval villages of Tuscany, birthplace of Boccaccio and an actual open-air museum.
Thanks to the combined ticket valid for all the town’s museums, you may include in the itinerary a visit to Boccaccio’s house, the Arte Sacra Museum and the entrance to the Palazzo dei Vicari, which houses the Tabernacle of the Executed by Benozzo Gozzoli.
May be also combined with the tour of San Gimignano or Colle Val d’Elsa, with a stop at Monteriggioni (maximum 6 hours).
