by Felicia Rotundo

The area

Montagnola extends to the south of Siena and corresponds to the area that borders on the Maremma. It is characterized by woods, cultivated fields of cereals and pastures and the Merse River that represents its main resource. Since mediaeval times it has been a busy thoroughfare of traffic and commerce towards the territories in Maremma that were in the control of the Republic of Siena: the town of Franco di Paganico and the port of Talamone.

San Galgano

Major development took place during the XI and XIV centuries with the arrival in the area of the Cistercian order and the construction of the majestic abbey of San Galgano in 1224.

The Cistercian monks, expert architects but also notable administrators, played a significant role, not only in the development of the area, but also in the construction of the Duomo and the administration of Siena. Some of the monks reapplied the role of Cardinal-Camerlengo (bursar): a figure entrusted with the responsibility of managing public funds and the establishment of an accounts register in the council.

Some of the marble used for the construction of the Duomo originates from the Montagnola Senese where yellow marble was found in the quarries of Montarrenti and green marble from Vallerano.

Architecture and landscape

In the Commentari, Enea Silvio Piccolomini praises the landscape of Montagnola claiming that it was a spectacle of inexpressible beauty. The area is also characterized by an architectural heritage of notable interest consisting of numerous significant constructions situated along the roads of the Maremma, including the villages situated at the Ponte allo Spino and Rosia that have extraordinary examples of Romanic bell towers and the Abbey at Santa Mustiola and Torri with its magnificent cloister, the hermitages of Lecceto and San Leonardo al Lago, Santa Lucia, hidden within a wood, the castles of Belcaro, Chiocciola and Monteriggioni and the villas (the most impressive of which belonged to the Chigi family), such as, the Volte Alte designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini and completed by Baldassarre Peruzzi in 1505. The area of Montagnola also includes the town of Cetinale, the birthplace of Fabio Chigi (later elected Pope Alessandro VII in 1655) and Ancaiano where cardinal Flavio erected the villa and park designed by Carlo Fontana in 1680.