Discover Chianti

Il Palagio

Via di Campoli reaches the turreted Villa il Palagio. The castle, first mentioned in 1252, but probably built in an earlier period, was enlarged in the 14th century. The sturdy fortification managed to resist the Ghibelline attacks and the many wars which ravaged the territory between the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1910 the architect Castelletti renovated the building with neo-Medieval additions, in that period’s prevailing taste. The farm was also established in that time. The garden is enclosed by the old fortifications and contains many century-old trees: cedars of Lebanon, holm-oaks, cypresses, pines and fir-trees. They say that some of these were planted by a Napoleonic officer at the be-ginning of the 19th century.

Vallacchio

Shortly after Il Palagio, the road crosses a small plateau above the valley of the Terzona; a turning to the right leads to Vallacchio. In the 15th century the villa was a stately home belonging to the Cerpelloni. lt was renovated in the 18th century by the Del Vernaccia family. The villa is known as “l Nanni” because in the 19th century it belonged to the agronomist Attilio Nanni. He built a steam laboratory near the villa to update the farm’s agricultural techniques. The mechanism washed olive husks, the remains of olives after the press. The farmhouse with its tall brick chimney can be seen from the road, just after the parish church. Behind the villa is the chapel built by Chimenti Cerpelloni in 1516 and his coat-of-arms decorates the plain facade which is crowned by a pediment. Inside, the apse is frescoed with a Madonna and Child with Saints Anne, Elizabeth, John, Anthony Abbot and Mary Magdalene, attributed to the early 16th century Florentine painter Giovanni Sogliani.

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