Romanesque churches, similar to, yet more so than the beautiful farmhouses and medieval fortresses, are a constant reference point throughout the Chianti. Although they vary in size and often in shape, these buildings serve as precious documents of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. Abbeys, churches and suffragan chapels testify to the existence of a populated and organized region. Moreover, the ancient road to France which connected Rome to the other countries beyond the Alps, brought pilgrims, wayfarers, merchants and wealth. But it also introduced new ideas. This is probably why there exist not only numerous, very simple Tuscan Romanesque churches but also a few significant examples of buildings in the Romanesque style coming from Lombardy and Ravenna. Proof of this is given by the churches of San Pietro in Bossolo near Tavarnelle and Sant’Appiano in the vicinity of Barberino Val d’Elsa, both originally conceived with “an octagonal baptistry with walls internally marked by blind arches in a tradition to be found in the baptistries of Ravenna”.
Typical of our Romanesque style is the church of San Donato in Poggio, which stands in an isolated position just outside the village with the same name. Inside, the nave and two aisles are divided by simple, quadrilateral columns without other decorations and the roof is in solid wood, following the taste of the Chianti Romanesque style. This sober architecture often led “to the suppression of the external arches above the apses”.
–
See also:

Castles in Chianti, The Gardens of Chianti

or go back to Countrymen, Landlords, and Churches