Discover Chianti

The downhill road to Cerbaia begins in a place known as “Bosco”, to the left, just outside village. It passes through oak and pine woods and crosses La Romola. It was a stretch of the via Volterrana until 1874, when a more direct route was built, crossing five stone bridges over the Sugana, and almost immediately reaching the plain. Via Volterrana was aleady an important route in Etruscan times, connecting the hinterland to the coast. It was used mainly for transporting salt and was known as the “via del sale”, salt road, or “salaiola”. Right off the strada della Romola, a dirt road reaches the park of Poggio Valicaia.The park has several itineraries for nature walks.

La Canigiana

Just after the road forks, an avenue of old cypress trees leads to Villa La Canigiana, built in the 15th century by the Canigiani, allies of the Medici. In the 17th century the new owners,the Vitucci, enlarged the building. ln 1698 don Giovanni Antonio Vitucci, prior of La Romola, added the Chapel of Santa Cristina di Bolsena, endowing it with a holy relic of the Saint.

A Note on Roadside Chapels

Along the roads of Chianti, in open countryside, the traveler often comes across roadside chapels, small rectangular buildings with gabled roofs. Originally, they opened up to road with an arch supported on two low lateral walls, and this is how they are represented on 16th century maps. They were the destination of springtime processions or “Rrogations”, widely attended by peasants.; together with songs and the blessing of the fields, this constituted a Christian propitiatory rite for the harvest, with roots in ancient pagan ceremonies. The sacred image exposed in the chapel, usually a Madonna and Child with Saints, was venerated by travelers and pilgrims and the enclosed space also offered them shelter from bad weather and a place to rest. From the beginning of the 16th cenury an “oratory” typology became widespread: a small closed structure, with or without a portico. Through the small windows on the facade, each with its own stone kneeling-stool, one could stop and pray without entering the little church.

Cappella dei Tani

Further along the road, through the pine trees you can catch a glimpse of a small roadside chapel surrounded by cypresses. It is a small building preceded by a portico which is supported on columns. The doorway, surmounted by the Tani family shield, bears an inscription attributing its construction in 1644 to Francesco Tani, owner of the small villa nearby.

La Romola

Approximately halfway up the hill of Tavernaccia, between the Sugana and the Grande streams, the road crosses the village of La Romola, mentioned as early as 1040 as a stop along the Volterrana road. The Church of Santa Maria dates back to the 13th century, but was reconstructed in 1756, when the Salvianti became its patrons. The family’s coat-of-arms decorates the stone doorway, which stands out against the plain facade. The interior retains the graceful 18th century stucco and faux-marble decoration; on the High Altar is a wooden Crucifix by Hungarian artist Gudics, dating to 1968.

Gabbiola

After La Romola an unpaved road on the right winds through pine woods to Gabbiola and to the remains of the Church of Santo Stefano, documented since 1260. The church was damaged during the Second World War and is now incorporated into a modern house. It has a gabled facade with a saw-tooth brick decoration and a bell-gable, typical 12th century architectural characteristics.

Cerbaia

Via della Romola reaches the borders of Chianti at Cerbaia, where the town grew on via Volterrana, near the bridge over the Pesa. The bridge was built in 1295 and was given in charge to an “Officer of Public Roads”, Mannino Acciaiuoli, member of a powerful family who settled here around the middle of the century. The castle, or Cerbaia Vecchia, was attacked in 1100 by the Florentine Republic, who wanted to free the via Volterrana from the tolls imposed by the Alberti family, the fortress’ feudal lords. In 1312 Emperor Henry Vll, who was camped in San Casciano, conquered and destroyed the stronghold, which was being defended by a handful of young Florentine nobles. ln 1354 it was again attacked by Fra Moriale, captain of the mercenary bands at that time ransacking the region. In the Middle Ages, the Giandonati family, patrons of the Parish Church of San Giovanni, founded the Hospital of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria at the foot of the bridge. In his writings, Giorgio Vasari recalls how the artist Lorenzo di Bicci accepted country commissions in order to practice his painting and mentions the fresco under the loggia of the Hospital of Santa Caterina,
depicting a Madonna with Saints and the Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine. The loggia was walled up and is now the house at n.67 via Volterrana. The neo-Gothic Church of Santa Catering. was built in 1921.

Villa I Tattoli

Just past Cerbaia on via Volterrana, a majestic avenue of cypresses on the left leads to Villa Tattoli. The Bini, a famous Florentine family in Republican and Medicean times, have owned property in the area since 1427 and are still the villa’s owners. The villa, positioned on a slope facing the Sugana valley, was built prior to 1498. It was probably the work of Giuliano da Sangallo; indeed, the layout, the sober structures and the beautiful portico with two orders of arches supported on columns recall the style of the architect favored by Lorenzo the Magnificent. Behind the house, on raised ground, is the splendid Italian garden formed by boxwood hedges; in the center of the elevated area, a pool collects rainwater from the roofs. Behind the niche at the bottom of the garden, a backdrop of cypresses separates the villa from the surrounding fields.

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