MONTERIGGIONI
MONTERIGGIONI
9.000 inhabitants. The impressive medieval village of Monteriggioni dominates the Monte Ala hill. The turreted fortresshamlet was built by the Sienese in 1203 as an outpost against the Florentines. In fact, it allowed them to control the Via Francigena
and both the Elsa and Staggia river valleys. The first settlers were the Lombards and it was probably a free-trade area (exempt from payment of duty). The walls were raised in 1219 together with 14towers and 2 gates. They are 172 meters across and 2 meters thick. The towers were so tall, Dante in his Inferno compares them to the Giants threatened by Jove;one gate looks towards the mother country, Siena, the other towards Florence, the potential enemy. They had no drawbridge, rather wooden heavy doors with a particular system of iron plates and pulleys. Furthermore, a carbonaia (moat filled in with coal) surrounded the stronghold and could be set alight in case of attack.
Inside the city walls we find the central square, Piazza Roma, and its characteristic well. The square is surrounded by several vegetable gardens: during the war, the gardens provided food and the well supplied the water, so that people could stay safe inside the walls. Monteriggioni offers the perfect setting for the medieval festival that takes place
here every year, “Monteriggioni di Torri si Corona” (Monteriggioni is crowned with towers), as Dante Alighieri wrote in his worldwide famous masterwork The Divine Comedy. During this event, fire torches ,light the walls while performances and stalls animate the lanes and the squares, recreating a realistic medieval atmosphere.
9.000 inhabitants. The impressive medieval village of Monteriggioni dominates the Monte Ala hill. The turreted fortresshamlet was built by the Sienese in 1203 as an outpost against the Florentines. In fact, it allowed them to control the Via Francigena
and both the Elsa and Staggia river valleys. The first settlers were the Lombards and it was probably a free-trade area (exempt from payment of duty). The walls were raised in 1219 together with 14towers and 2 gates. They are 172 meters across and 2 meters thick. The towers were so tall, Dante in his Inferno compares them to the Giants threatened by Jove;one gate looks towards the mother country, Siena, the other towards Florence, the potential enemy. They had no drawbridge, rather wooden heavy doors with a particular system of iron plates and pulleys. Furthermore, a carbonaia (moat filled in with coal) surrounded the stronghold and could be set alight in case of attack.
Inside the city walls we find the central square, Piazza Roma, and its characteristic well. The square is surrounded by several vegetable gardens: during the war, the gardens provided food and the well supplied the water, so that people could stay safe inside the walls. Monteriggioni offers the perfect setting for the medieval festival that takes place
here every year, “Monteriggioni di Torri si Corona” (Monteriggioni is crowned with towers), as Dante Alighieri wrote in his worldwide famous masterwork The Divine Comedy. During this event, fire torches ,light the walls while performances and stalls animate the lanes and the squares, recreating a realistic medieval atmosphere.