Discover Chianti

Cappella dei Marcellini

At Fornacelle, the road passes Villa dei Marcellini. The beautiful facade with 16th century windows is decorated with the coat-of-arms of the Marsili, who owned the villa between the 16th and 17th centuries. ln 1669 it was bought by the descendants of Bernardo Buontalenti, architect the Grand Dukes Francesco and Ferdinando de’ Medici. The Buontalenti family built the chapel that has an unusual doorway surmounted by a curved broken pediment with a shell decoration. The chapel is crowned by a pretty dome with fish-scale tiles.

Luciana

From the 11th century there was a small castle in Luciana belonging to the Counts Cadoligi di Monte Cascioli. At one time its ruins could be seen next to the Church of San Donato. Now only the Medieval defensive tower still stands against a stately house with corbelled windows, datable to the 16th century. The building became a farmhouse in the 17th century, when the Pitti family built an imposing villa next to the church, which was demolished along with the rest of the town. ln 1992 an installation by Mauro Staccioli was placed next to the tower: a sickle moon made of iron and cement measuring 27 metres.This work, whose twin is in the Museo di Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato, is placed between the hills and the ancient building, a sign of cosmic harmony.

San Martino in Valle

From the tower of Luciana the road reaches the farm of Vignano, a sober turreted structure which dates back to the 17th century. There is a track on the left before the villa. Following this across the fields, on foot or on a cross-country vehicle, the ruins of San Martino in Valle can be reached. Some 10th century sources record the existence of a small village at Valle whose lords were the Cavalcanti and the Gherardiri. The small Romanesque church was under the patronage of the Buondelmonti. lt is in ruins now, but the facade made of alberese stone blocks remains standing, as does a lovely mullioned bell-gable, its small column topped by a truncated pyramid capital.

Poggio la Croce

Recently, an important Etruscan settlement was discovered at Poggio La Croce. The archaeological site can be reached on foot, on the track which goes off to the right of the road at the Solatione farm.
At the first fork you take the path on the left, then keep to the right at all the next forks. After approximately 300 meters, red marks on the trees direct you to the top of the hill. This is covered with the remains of thick perimeter walls belonging to Etruscan structures datable between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC.

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