Castles are to be found everywhere, but this is not the Loire valley! Nor are there impossible rocks above which those towers rise like the pointed lances that distinguish German castles in fairy tales or the epic Anglo-Saxon manor-houses which take us back to the innocence of our childhood and which can, at an ‘unsuitable’ age, evoke the memories of noble dames on horseback, locked up for love in impenetrable castles. The castles of the Chianti have a human dimension and although medieval fortresses were built for reasons of war, they now appear less challenging as they have taken on the appearance of fortified noble villas with these mixed, architecturally varied characteristics, capable of blending the sturdiness of an embattled tower with a peaceful plastered facade added two centuries later, or a cloistered barrel vaulted cellar with a romantic garden. They are ‘penitent’ fortifications which have, with time, laid down their arms to espouse the noble cause of peace.
Although they have departed from their original plan, most of these castles in the Chianti still preserve those architectural elements, typical of these imposing defensive structures. Italo Moretti describes them perfectly: “The architectural structure is typical of the Middle Ages: their development along a road of access, or opening like a fan on the slope of a hill with the main elements on the top (keep, palace, church) or in concentric circles, following the contours of the hill. On the lowlands the architectural structure is often more regular”.
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See also:

Romanesque Style Churches, The Gardens of Chianti

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