10 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

Of Etruscan origin, (Tomb “The Tumulus of Montecalvario“), dated VII-VI century B.C. and the Necropolis of Poggino, located near Fonterutoli. The finds are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Chianti Senese in the historic center. In 1203 Castellina was an important Florentine outpost. In 1430 Filippo Brunelleschi was commissioned to fortify the walls necessary for this town.
The architecture of the village has been much remodeled. There are 2 interesting late Renaissance palaces, Palazzo Bianciardi (fifteenth century, hosted Pope Leo X in 1515, (see Medici Coat of Arms on the façade) and Palazzo Ugolini Squarcialupi (sixteenth century, in Mannerist style).

The tourist village is very lively, with numerous places for refreshments, hospitality, wine tasting, clothing, gifts, an interesting visit to the Stiaccini butcher’s shop (over 80 years of activity), where tasty dishes are prepared for lunch and dinner, next to the delicatessen with cold cuts and sausages of own production.
Beautiful Panoramic Point at 626 meters above sea level, where you can see most of Tuscany. (Road to S. Donato in P.) on the same road 1 km from the village Azienda Agricola Casalvento, where numerous plants and flowers are grown and distilled, in particular “Lavanda del Chianti“.

12 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

The Fortified Village of the Castle of Panzano of the XII century was very important for its position on the border between Florence and Siena. Destroyed several times in 1260 and 1397, it became part of Florence and then Siena. Of the Ancient Structure. A few medieval buildings remain in the upper part around the church.

Today he is well known and has become famous in different parts of the world for his Butcher and Poet Dario Cecchini.
It is a small town, very crowded for its many wine bars, excellent wines and quality food that are served.
The views are beautiful with the geometries of the vineyards, the ancient farmhouses and the farms where the famous Chianti Classico wine is produced.

15 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

A quiet and picturesque hilltop village of ancient origins (mentioned in a document of 1085).

Developed around the ancient castle, it still maintains an elliptical plan with the remains of some towers, transformed over time into a dwelling.
Beautiful view of the valley.

18 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

It is a pretty town famous for the various markets, fairs, exhibitions that take place every year and one of the centers for the trade and enhancement of Chianti Classico Gallo Nero wine.
It has a triangular-shaped square with porticoes on both sides, very attractive, with a monument to Giovanni da Verrazzano (from 1913), (born at the castle of the same name in Val di Greve. 1485-1528 circa), he was the first European to explore the coast of the future British colonies (nucleus of today’s United States), including New York Bay, which he entered on April 17, 1524.
In the fifties and sixties the Tuscan explorer was recognized as the first discoverer of the area and the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge was dedicated to him.
On April 17 of each year, Verrazzano Day is celebrated both in New York and at the Castello di Verrazzano in Greve in Chianti.
In front of the Town Hall is the Bronze Sculpture ” Winged Torso ” by Igor Mitoraj (2001). On the right side of the square is the Antica Macelleria Falorni, owned by the family of the same name, run by the eighth generation.

On the opposite side of the square is the church of Santa Croce (1834), with valuable works from churches in the surrounding area, including: a fourteenth-century fresco, Madonna and Child, by the Master of Greve, a Triptych by Bicci di Lorenzo 1420.
Beyond the square is the Museum of Sacred Art, with valuable works of art.
In the historic center there is also the Wine Museum. An important tasting and marketing centre. Nearby, beautiful castles (Colognole Castle, Verrazzano Castle, Vicchio Maggio Castle, Uzzano Castle) and Renaissance villas including Villa Vignamaggio (birthplace of Mona Lisa Gioconda, model of the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

20 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

A village with an original medieval appearance (with its concentric streets leading to the Palazzo del Podestà, famous for its numerous coats of arms that recall the passage of the various authorities), well protected still in part by its defensive walls. Beyond which you can enjoy splendid views including the view of the village of Castello di Volpaia among woods and vineyards.
A curious and interesting building is the Grand Ducal Icehouse, in which it was filled with snow in winter so that ice formed in order to preserve it and use it in summer.

Walking through the historic center, with its numerous restaurants, shops in the central street, in the covered side streets, its small squares, we are enveloped in a pleasant atmosphere between modern life, the past and the Chianti tradition.

35 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

The ownership of the Castle of Brolio, belonging to the Ricasoli family, dates back to before 1141.
In all these centuries, the Castle of Brolio, given its strategic importance, has suffered numerous sieges, devastation, looting, destruction, in various historical struggles, from the Aragonese and Spanish attacks of the fifteenth century to the Second World War with air and artillery attacks.

The walls have been rebuilt and transformed over the centuries, in which architectural traces of the various medieval eras of the Romanesque, Neo-Gothic, up to the Tuscan nineteenth century, are still legible, the result of the reconstruction commissioned by Baron Ricasoli between 1863 and 1880.
From the walls it is possible to enjoy a splendid view, on the endless vineyards drawn on the rolling hills among oak woods, numerous centuries-old cypresses, and in the background of the landscape the view of the beautiful silhouette of Siena.

8 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

A very small building dating back to 1510 built at the miraculous spring of Camugnana, as a sign of thanksgiving for a healing from a serious illness by Don Jacopo Mindria da Bibbiena.
The Chapel (preceded by a portico from 1798) is circular in shape, with a dome covered with bricks with fish scales, an appropriate detail that speaks for itself, bringing us back to the narration of the event that took place in 1050.

The legend-story tells that San Giovanni Gualberto, on the occasion of Pope Leo X’s stop in Badia a Passignano, ordered 2 of his friars of the monastery to go to the spring to fish, and with great amazement they caught 2 large pike that had never been seen before in that place. (Described by Andrew of Parma, biographer of the saint).

0,8 km from our B.& B. Del Giglio

Originally it was a farm of the Ticci family, which passed to the Malaspina family, later to the Torrigiani. In 1887, at the behest of Mrs. Anna Fry, wife of Marquis Carlo Torrigiani, it was completely rebuilt, providing it with modern comforts.
Simple in shape, the building is decorated with portals and windows in pietra serena.
Still under the manor house is the Splendid Cellar of the Marquis Torrigiani, with a large area under the ground floor.

Today the Farm, very modern, has been enlarged; on the east side there is “La Cantina Nuova” with stainless steel tanks for winemaking.
For aging “La Barricaia” a cellar characterized by a barrel ceiling completely made of bricks, very similar to “L’Anforaia“, where there is space for terracotta amphorae, back in vogue after decades of oblivion, for the aging of wine, there are also spaces for large oak barrels of 33 hectoliters and other barriques.
From all sides of the farm you can see views of rare beauty on the Chianti hills, on the south side there is a beautiful “Ragnaia” (a typical element of historic Italian gardens) a forest of centuries-old holm oaks, where in the summer months you can find coolness.

The most beautiful and picturesque time to enjoy the great beauty of the Chianti Hills is certainly Autumn, in particular from mid-October to mid-November, where the countryside is tinged with multiple colors and shades, from green to yellow to brown with touches of red given by the leaves of the vines that with their metamorphosis and the harmonious geometries of the rows give us incredible spectacles.