CHIANTI: the world's famous wine

1° Day Siena

Arrival in Siena in the afternoon. A hillside city in the valley between the Arbia and Elsa rivers, with the Chianti woods all around, and with respect to the lands that have always been dominated it sits in a central position. Siena is famous for many reasons: the “Palio delle Contrade” with its multicoloured flags, the narrow, winding alleys, the architectural perfection of its Gothic monuments, the many famous people born there, and the high quality food products that you can savour there. Visit to some of its major monuments: Palazzo Pubblico, The Civic Museum, the Loggia della Mercanzia, the Palazzo del Magnifico, the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist, the Libreria and the Palazzo Piccolomini, the Opera Metropolitana Museum, the Battistero, the Pinacoteca Nazionale, the Torre del Mangia that stands proud in the centre of the city over Piazza del Campo, the starting point for the roads to the Dome, the Basilica of San Domenico, the Sanctuary of Santa Caterina, Piazza Salimbeni and Via di Città, the most elegant and majestic of the three roads that divide the road network of the city, and Porta Romana. Evening meal and accommodation in hotel.

2° Day Greve – Colle Val d’Elsa – Castellina – Radda – Gaiole

Breakfast in hotel. Departure for Chianti, the wine in which wine experts detect the scent of violets, is made from two different types of red grapes, the Canaiolo and the Sangiovese, the true heart of this wine, and two different types of white, Malvasia and Trebbiano. The countryside is very varied, and brings to mind a Macchiaoli painting where here and there you will easily spot out villas, farms, holm oaks, lush vegetation, hamlets, towers, slopes on the hills, bends on the roads, Romanesque parish churches, oak trees, cypress trees, and olive trees in and around the vineyards. You will visit in this order: Greve in Chianti with its Giacomo Matteotti Square and the Giovanni Terrazzano monument, the porticos and the typical market structure, a clear sign of the Greve economy in the 1300s. Transfer to the hillside town of Colle Val d’Elsa, both an agricultural and industrial town, with its Palazzo Campana, the Castle, the Palazzo Pretorio, the Civic Museum, the Archaeology Museum, the Dome, the Palazzo dei Priori and the Church of Sant’ Agostino. Lunch in a restaurant. In the afternoon departure for: Castellina in Chianti that was originally a military outpost. The ancient monumental rock there shows that in the past Siena and Florence tried to take over this small town several times. Now it has become an important centre on the way to Chiantigiana surrounded by acres of woods and lush vegetation where wild boars, hares, squirrels and pheasants flourish. It was here that in 1924 the Consorzio del Chiani Classico was founded, and since 1984 this wine has been granted the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (label of Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin). The reo Romanesque parish church of San Salvatore is in the outskirts of the town, and the graveyard of Montecalvario, a burial ground consisting of 4 ancient Etrurian underground tombs, is nearby. The original, true Medieval Castellina is in Via delle Volte and is a pleasant walk under the porticos. Don’t leave Castellina without having tasted the “Schiacciata con Uva” that is made from the end of September to October. Radda, on the other hand, offers a more limited panorama than the more open one from Castellina, that looks over Valdelsa with sloping hills where the sun never seems to set. As you leave Castellina you cant help but notice the battlemented steeple and the houses all around. In the past, Radda was considered the capital of the Lega del Chianti, and today you can still see how historically important it was in the Siena side of Chianti where the wine tradition is now one of the most famous in the world. Just as you enter the town, you will see the Clante Centro Studi Storici Chiantigiane that are in the Vignale farm buildings, and here you can learn more about the history and local agricultural traditions. Make a point of going to see the Church of Santa Maria Novella and take some photos of the churches in Albola, Bugialla, Livernano and Montemaione. About ten kilometers farther along from Via Chiantigiana you will get to Gaiole in Chianti, a modern town with the Church of San Bartolomeo in the centre. Visit the Romanesque church of Spaltenna and the abbey buildings of Coltibuono built by the Vallombrosa monks in the XI century. The area all around consists of numerous small towns and castles, like Spaltenna, Vertine and Barbischio. Heading towards Siena you will notice the roads lead up to some of the most beautiful places in the area, where the Castles of Bolio, Meleto and Castagnoli are in complete harmony with the never ending vineyards, woods that are centuries old, and beautiful, Medieval towns like Lugignano. Return to hotel, evening meal and accommodation.

3° Day San Gimignano - Montereggioni

Breakfast in hotel, then departure for the ancient town of San Gimignano where the Etrurians were the first to settle. It’s glory reached its peak in the Middle Ages when, thanks to the strategic position of the town along the Francigena and Pisan route, it became an important commercial and postal centre for leather. You will visit: Piazza Duomo, Palazzo del Podestà with the Torre La Rognosa at the side, Palazzo del Popolo, the characteristic three sided Piazza della Cisterna with the well in the centre, porta San Giovanni, Collegiata (where you can admire the frescos by Benozzo Gozzoli and Taddeo di Bartolo as well as the wooden statues by Jacopo della Quercia), Torre Grossa, Church of Sant’ Agostino, Church of Saint Peter, Church of San Jacopo, Teatro dei Leggieri and Civic Museum. Lunch in restaurant. Departure in the afternoon for Monteriggioni, the “enclosed” town that is “embellished by towers” (Dante) where you will visit the City walls and the Church of Saint John the Baptist.