Discover Chianti

Via Grevigiana crosses Mercatale, a town whose origins date to 1237. In that year Messer Marzoppino Rustichelli, Viscount of the neighbouring Castle of Montecampolese, ordered a market place to be built on a site called Beccamorto. During the 14th century many houses grew around the main square. In 1469, Agnolo di di Zanobi, a rich merchant dealing in pots and pans, had an oratory built in the village. While the town’s development was limited because of its proximity to San Casciano, its population kept on growing, to the extent that in the 18th century its inhabitants were given permission to move the seat of the parish from Santa Maria di Campoli, on the hill, to the oratory in the square. This was rebuilt in 1839 with a simple gabled facade and a sober neo-Classical interior. Along the walls are two 18th century pietra serena altars, formerly in the old oratory. The right altar was commissioned in 1734 by Giuliano Dami, Chamberlain of Grand Duke Gian Gastone de’ Medici. The church houses the sinopias of three frescoes found in country tabernacles, all dating from the beginning of the 15th century. In the chapel on the right is the Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine, from the tabernacle of Crespello, by a Florentine artist close to Lorenzo di Bicci. On the left of the High Altar is a Madonna and Child with Saints Anne and Leonard, attributed to Giovanni Toscani, from the Oratory of Sant’Anna in Terzona, an abandoned building on the road to Montefiridolfi. The Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Dominic, formerly in the tabernacle of Cortifredi, is attributed to the school of Paolo Schiavo, a painter active in Chianti. Some 19th century buildings with traces of Medieval structures look onto the square. In front of the church is a sculpture by Roberto Barni, “the Cockerel’s Yarn” a polychrome ceramic variation of the sculpture in San Casciano.

The Mercatali of Chianti

Between the 12th and 13th centuries, several “rnercatali” were established in Chianti. These were inhabited centers originating as market places. The inhabitants of the hilltop castles and of the villages that grew against their walls, needed a place in the plains which could be easily reached to buy and sell merchandise. Usually it was the lord of the castle who gave a plot of his land for this use, paid for trough a tax. The Lord was responsible for defending the area in case of danger and regulating the market. Greve, Mercatale and Gaiole, towns which originated as “mercatali” have funnel shaped layouts, with houses aligned on the longer sides. Greve’s houses have a portico on the ground floor, where merchandise could be displayed in case of bad weather; Gaiole has a public water font, an essential feature of the market, protected by a law issued by the Republic in 1511 which prohibited soiling it.

Cofferi

Villa Nunzi faces Mercatale’s main square, on the left of the church. lt was built by the Strozzi before the 15th century. Beyond the villa and piazza del Popolo, via de’Cofferi continues through fields and woods. This unpaved road winds across the crests of the hills which rise around the Greve river, and arrives at a fork leading to Cofferi on the left and to Santa Lucia Nuova on the right. The name Cofferi betrays the small village’s Lombard origins. It derives from the Germanic word “kuphar” meaning copper. The Church of San Martino, first recorded in 1156, retains traces of a Romanesque structure in alberese stone despite the radical reconstruction of 1937. The inscription above the doorway records that the parish priest renovated the church, reversing its plan: the current facade was previously the presbytery. The road continues to the right of the tabernacle before the church, leading to a farmhouse. Next to it is the small Oratory of San Girolamo, a pretty 17th century building; the pediment above its doorway bears the Baldesi coat-of-arms. Back at the fork,the turning to the right crosses a pinewood and reaches the Medieval tower of Ispoli, which once belonged to the Machiavelli. It then reaches Villa Santa Lucia a Ligliano, or Nuova: the elegant building has its origins in the 14th century, but was restored in the 19th. Next to it is the Chapel of Santa Lucia, rebuilt by the canon Naisi in 1614 to replace the Medieval Church of Santa Lucia Vecchia on the opposite hill. You can reach Santa Lucia Vecchia from piazza del Popolo by taking the road to the right. The older church is recorded in documents from the 13th century, while the villa and the private chapel were probably built in the 16th Century.

Montecampolese

Take the uphill road to Greve on the right just outside Mercatale to get to Montecampolese. The large farmhouse shows signs of its origins as a castle, and indeed, it is recorded as such in the 13th century. The castle was dismantled after the Guelph victories and turned into a stately home. Next to the castle stood San Niccolò, a little Romanesque church, which is now a barn.

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