An indulgent Tuscan day

Hard to leave my favourite breakfast in Italy on the terrace of our intimate Palazzo di Valli on 18 acres with views to the belltower of Siena, but there are three charming villages beckoning for a delicious day out in the captivating countryside of Tuscany.

I once read that there are 287 towns in Tuscany, so how does one choose? Fortunately many are close by, allowing us to visit Pienza, Montefollonico and Monticchiello when we stay in Montepulciano for three days. In Siena we are within close proximity to San Gimignano, Volterra and Monteriggioni, all achievable in a day with time to savour the delights of each town by travelling in a private minibus.

Touristy, towered San Gimignano has been off my list for a while, but it deserves to be included. Timing is everything, so visiting straight after breakfast means we can avoid a lot of the tourists. Once a town with a medieval skyline of 72 towers, today only 14 remain. Before effective city walls were built, rich people fortified their homes with these towers. In the 13th century the towers were symbols of power. The greater the family’s power, the taller the tower, up to 70 metres in height. To limit dangerous conflict and big egos as well as the risk of towers collapsing, a law was passed in 1255 that prevented the building of towers higher than the 51 metre tall Rognosa Tower.

The Torri dei Salvucci belonged to the most important family in the city, the Salvucci. They built their towers to show their wealth and supremacy and evaded the law by having two towers built side by side. In the 14th century, San Gimignano’s good times turned bad. In the year 1300 about 13,000 people lived within the walls, but in 1348 a plague decimated the population, leaving the once mighty town with barely 4,000 survivors. San Gimignano came under Florence’s control and was forced to tear down many of its towers.

Saffron and wine

Frequently used during the Middle Ages as a medicinal herb and for colouring, the saffron that is cultivated on the hills around the town contributed to making San Gimignano a rich and flourishing city. The saffron was exported across Europe and the Middle East. Abandoned for centuries, its cultivation was reintroduced in the 20th century. The production technique is the same today as the one used in the Middle Ages. The red filaments that turn yellow in water are extracted by hand and dried in the sun or in a oven. To preserve the aroma, the filaments are sold whole. A quantity of 100g of dried filaments requires the harvesting of between 12,000 and 15,000 flowers!

Vernaccia di San Gimignano is a a wine filled with history and one of Italy’s oldest wines. It was already being drunk by Popes in the 16th century. In 1643 Michelangelo the Younger (nephew of Michelangelo) wrote that Vernaccia “kisses, licks, bites, pinches and stings”. Vernaccia today is no longer tannic and astringent and was the first wine in Italy to be awarded DOC status, which was upgraded to DOCG status in 1993, being the highest accolade for wine in Italy.

Not easily accessible by public transport, but only a thirty minute drive from San Gimignano is the ancient medieval town of Volterra, formed around the 7th century B.C. and once one of the most important Etruscan cities. Volterra fought strongly against the Florentines, but like many Tuscan towns, it lost in the end and was given a fortress to protect its citizens.

It is a little bigger than San Gimignano’s population of 8,000 with just over 10,000 residents. History and charm with roots 3,000 years ago make wandering the streets a journey through time from the Etruscan era to the Roman period and Middle Ages.

Volterra is renowned for alabaster, which has been mined from the surrounding hills since ancient times by the Etruscans and Romans. There are many workshops and shops to buy handmade creations.

Dinner behind bars

For a seriously different dining experience, there are several dates throughout the year when you can book a table at Fortezza Medicea within a 13th century fortress that is a working prison. Mind you, it’s not easy to get a reservation as you will have to pass a background check which can take a couple of months, go through several checkpoints, leave phones and bags outside and you will be eating off plastic plates with plastic cutlery. Just in case.

This is a prison in Volterra for the most hardened criminals, many of whom are doing life for murder. The wait staff and the chefs are all prisoners, watched closely by the armed guards which creates a somewhat different ambience. The restaurant opened in 2006 with a vision to raise money for charity, build skills and give inmates the chance to interact with people on the outside. Guest chefs are brought to the prison to teach the inmates.

Dining inside a chapel behind 60 foot high walls, watch towers, searchlights and security cameras and being serenaded by a pianist doing life for murder as you dine on food prepared and cooked by chefs, possibly also doing life, is unique. Can’t really think of another word. I think it is a great initiative and a successful one, as it has enabled prisoners who have done their time to go out into the world and find jobs in restaurants.

Who knew? There’s a lot going on in these small medieval towns in Tuscany.

Oa twenty minute drive out of Siena is the charming, walled castle of Monteriggioni. The fortified circular wall built in the 13th century is incredibly intact and well preserved. The walls stretch for 570 metres, interspersed with 14 towers, and were built for defensive purposes so that guards could patrol the walls on the lookout for enemies approaching Siena.

Today, it is charming to wander (which won’t take long), have a leisurely lunch or late afternoon aperitivo and chat to the owners of the few artisan shops.

A leap into the Middle Ages

Every year in July for a few days, Monteriggioni goes back in time to the Middle Ages: the streets filled with people in costumes, minstrels, knights, ladies and soldiers are lined with stands and artisans’ shops and battles and tournaments are re-enacted. In taverns and osterie visitors can discover the beverages and flavours of the past. This celebration is even more exciting after sunset when the hamlet is lit up by torches. The celebration first began at the start of the century, and involves all of the locals. It is listed as one of Tuscany’s unmissable summer events.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb