Monteriggioni, Tuscany

Overview

Discover Monteriggioni: Private Tours, Experiences & Custom Travel

Sitting on a small natural hillock, this completely walled medieval town was built in the 13th century by the overlords of to command the Cassia Road running through the Val d'Elsa and Val Staggia just to the west of Monteriggioni.

Except for some work done in the 16th century, very little work has been done to Monteriggioni's walls or buildings since they were first erected. So, Monteriggioni's walls and the buildings that comprise the town within are the best preserved example of their kind in all of Italy, so it is not surprising that it attracts busses full of tourists, but also architects, historians and archaeologists.

The town served as a defensive fortification that played a vital role in the on-going conflicts between and during the Middle Ages when was driving hard to increase its territory. Over the years, Monteriggioni successfully withstood many attacks from the Fiorentini and a few from forces under the command of the Bishop of Volterra which also asserted dominion over the area).

What could not do by force, it ultimately achieved by guile. The Sienese had placed control of the town's garrison in the hands of Giovannino Zeti, who had been exiled from . 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 Medicean forces.

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 set at equidistance, and two portals or gates. One gate, the Porta Fiorentina opens toward to the north, and the other, the Porta Romana, faces to the south. The main street within the walls connects the two gates in a more or less straight line.

The main piazza, the Piazza Roma, is dominated by a Romanesque church with a simple, plain facade. Other houses, some in the Renaissance style, once owned by local nobles, gentry and wealthy merchants facing into the piazza. 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 vital sustenance when enemies gathered without.

The Tuscan poet Dante referred to Monterrigioni in the Divine Comedy: Inferno, xxxi. 41-44 '...come in su la cerchia londa Monteriggioni di torri si corona'. Modern day artists are just as impressed: Monteriggioni, so evocative of the Medieval period, has been featured in a number of films and television commercials.

Modern visitors arriving at night will be amazed by the way the town seems to float above the valley because its hillside walls and towers are lit from below with a lovely golden light.

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Our own photographs

Monteriggioni Through Our Eyes

Photographed during our own travels and research, these images follow the journey through Monteriggioni, from the first view of the landscape to the small details that give the place its character.

Montereggioni, Tuscany

Festival in historic centre of Montereggioni, Tuscany Italy

Medieval Festival Summertime at Monteriggioni, Tuscany, Italy

The fairy tale city of Monteriggioni, Tuscany

Countryside surrounding Monteriggioni, Tuscany Italy

Map

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Photo Gallery

Castiglion Fiorentino

Viareggio

Volterra

Arezzo

Bagno Vignoni

Barga

Carrara

Castiglion Fiorentino

Chianciano Terme

Chianti

Cortona

Elba Island

Fiesole

Florence

La Verna

Livorno

Lucca

Maremma

Montalcino

Montecatini

Montepulciano

Monteriggioni

Monticchiello

Pienza

Pietrasanta

Pisa

Porto Santo Stefano

San Gimignano

San Miniato

Saturnia

Siena

Terme di San Filippo

Val D'Orcia

Viareggio

Swimming Pool +1 more

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Italy,Tuscany,San Gimignano

Villa

Villa for families between Florence and Siena

7 Beds 10-18

Air Conditioning +13 more

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Casa delle Brezze featured rental property in Monteriggioni

Italy,Tuscany,Florence

Apartment

Casa delle Brezze

2 Beds 2 Baths 4

Air Conditioning +12 more

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Cottage Fienile featured rental property in Monteriggioni

Italy,Tuscany,Siena (SI),Castellina in Chianti

Estate

4 Beds 11

Air Conditioning +13 more

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Getting here

The Road to Monteriggioni

Most of our guests arrive by private car, with a driver who knows these roads and where it is worth stopping along the way. These are the journeys we arrange most often.

San Gimignano Tuscany Florence Tuscany, Peretola Airport Arezzo Tuscany Montepulciano Tuscany Pisa Tuscany, Galileo Galilei Airport Rome Lazio, Fiumicino Airport

Arezzo - Town Centre, Etruscan City, Tuscany Italy

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