Discover Chianti

The Parish Church of San Donato is first mentioned in a document dated 989. It rose on the “via Sanese”, a road much traveled by Florentines heading toward Siena. The complex, a seat of canons since the 12th century, was enlarged and fortified in the course of the following century, with the addition of towers and a rampart catwalk for the soldiers. The facade and the base of the bell-tower are the oldest parts, built with even blocks of ivory alberese stone.The mullioned window and the crenellations are a result of the restoration work begun in the 19th century and completed in the second decade of the 20th century, in an attempt to bring the church back to a “pure” Romanesque style. The bell-tower had already been rebuilt in a different material in the 15th century. It had probably been completely dismantled during the battle between the Florentines and the Sienese, which took place in nearby Lo Spadaio. The right side, with the walled-in ancient doorways, and the rear, with the well defined shape of its three Romanesque apses, are original. The inside is divided by the succession of evenly spaced pillars which support the arches between the naves. A baptismal chapel was built in 1927 to the right of the entrance, at the base of the bell-tower: the glazed terracotta baptismal font by Giovanni della Robbia, dated 1513, was probably commissioned by the parish priest Bambelli, as was the holy water stoup decorated with his coat-of-arms. The 18th century colored marble High Altar came from the Church of the Misericordia in Florence. It has a rare example of a 15th century painted wood-en frontal, portraying San Donato in the act of benediction, set against a pomegranate motif background, typical of precious textiles of the time. Above the altar is a 14th century painted Cross, by a follower of Giotto, originally in the Church of Santa Maria della Neve.

A Note on Alberese Stone
Alberese stone is a marly limestone widely used as construction material in Chianti. Its color varies from white to yellow ochre, and is deposited in seams between grey-brown sandstone and clay. The blocks used to build churches and castles are fragments of the various strata, which have broken off naturally. They were found in fields or extracted in quarries, and were also used to produce lime.

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