Macinatico

Visiting San Gimignano

admin — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:59:12 +0000

San Gimignano, the “Medieval Manhattan”, is located only a few kilometers from the Macinatico holiday farm.

Booking a vacation at a holiday farm in the San Gimignano countryside implies visiting this amazing medieval town at least once. Its characteristic skyline can be admired from the Macinatico estate too.

The distance between our holiday farm and San Gimignano is only 7 kilometers along a beautiful road that meanders through sunny fields and olive groves. The sportier may opt for a trip into San Gimignano by e-bike.

San Gimignano and its towers

The 14 towers that still today make up the distinctive skyline of San Gimignano are what is left of the 72 which originally stood in the medieval town. Each family lived in their private tower-house and was in competition with their neighbor in terms of height and attractiveness.

The highest tower in San Gimignano is the Torre Grossa, which stands in Piazza del Duomo and is 54 meters high. Along with the Campatelli Tower and one of the Salvucci towers, it is currently one of only three towers in San Gimignano open to visitors.

The most famous tower in San Gimignano is probably the Torre del Diavolo (the Devil’s Tower). This tower is even reproduced in the Assassin’s Creed II video game, which is set in the Italian Renaissance. According to the story, the noble owner of the tower, upon his return from a trip, found it higher than its original height and this phenomenon was attributed to the devil.

What to see in San Gimignano

Among the places to visit in San Gimignano you cannot miss Piazza della Cisterna, the most beautiful square in San Gimignano, located right at the top of the hill, and Piazza del Duomo, where you can admire numerous buildings both civil and religious:

the Collegiate Church (Cathedral of San Gimignano), one of the finest examples of Tuscan Romanesque, which houses the Chapel of Santa Fina with frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1475);
the Palazzo Comunale (which houses the Museo Civico di San Gimignano);
the Torre Grossa;
the Loggia del Comune (the Town Hall Loggia);
the Old Palace of the Podestà (the chief magistrate), with the Rognosa Tower and the Chigi Tower.

L'articolo Visiting San Gimignano proviene da Macinatico.

A day-trip to Siena

admin — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 15:02:07 +0000

A day-trip to Siena during your stay at the holiday farm is quite doable, and the ideal way to explore the historic center of Siena is on foot.

The Macinatico holiday farm is 45 kilometers from Siena. It will take less than an hour via the Firenze-Siena highway, which you can take from the town of Poggibonsi. Exit at Siena Ovest. A trip to Siena during your holiday farm vacation near San Gimignano represents a fantastic opportunity to enjoy a city steeped in history.

Siena’s historic center can easily be explored on foot and a day spent there will allow you to see the most important sites.

What to see in one day in Siena

Where you begin your exploration of Siena will depend on where you park your car. However, the historic center is compact enough to be easily visited on foot. The must-see attractions are all more or less in the area between Piazza del Campo and the Duomo, which are just a 5-minute walk away.

Piazza del Campo is the most photographed square in Siena. It is the civic and artistic heart of the city. With its characteristic shell shape, it is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved medieval squares. Standing on one side is the Palazzo Pubblico (the city hall), with its tower, called the Torre del Mangia. The Palazzo Pubblico houses the Museo Civico, where you can see fresco cycles that include Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s celebrated “Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government” and, among the religious subjects, Simone Martini’s Maestà, one of the most important frescoes of the 14th century.

Lastly, in the summer, keep an eye on the calendar: on July 2 and August 16, the ultra- famous Palio di Siena is held. But around those dates you can also come across events organized by some of the contrade (the ancient quarters) that will catapult you into an unforgettable atmosphere of community and good cheer!

L'articolo A day-trip to Siena proviene da Macinatico.

A day trip to Florence

admin — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:04:28 +0000

Ideas and suggestions for visiting Florence during your holiday farm vacation near San Gimignano

Should you wish to visit Florence during your stay in Tuscany at the Macinatico farmhouse, you can easily get there in about one hour by car. You will need to take the Firenze-Siena highway at the town of Poggibonsi.

One day is certainly not enough to visit Florence. However, if you end up going there, after visiting the iconic sites, such as the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and Ponte Vecchio, we suggest you look around to spot, on the sides of some of the palaces, the very small, odd, vaulted windows, located more or less at eye level.

Tour of Florence for wine lovers

This tour of Florence for wine enthusiasts is a sort of treasure hunt to discover an ancient Florentine tradition: the buchette del vino, or the little windows through which flasks of wine were passed and sold. In the 17th century, with the decline of the manufacturing activities that had made Florence prosperous during the Renaissance, the great aristocratic families began to invest in landed estates and agriculture. This is how wine became the new source of wealth for the nobles of the time.

The buchette del vino, or wine windows, served the purpose of selling wine directly from inside the palace, saving on the intermediation of the innkeepers and reaching a wider clientele. These small windows allowed the passage of a flask or a slightly larger container and were often decorated with fine stone frames. This is why they would sometimes be commonly called “wine tabernacles”.

The most famous wine windows in Florence are located on Via del Giglio and Via del Sole: it’s up to you to discover the others as you wander through the streets of downtown Florence, where every corner is picture-worthy and a lovely surprise.

L'articolo A day trip to Florence proviene da Macinatico.

A trip to Monteriggioni

admin — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 15:05:54 +0000

Monteriggioni is a medieval village near the Macinatico farmhouse and is perfect for a half-day trip.

From the Macinatico farmhouse in San Gimignano it only takes about 30 minutes along the Florence-Siena highway (taken from Poggibonsi and exiting at Monteriggioni) to reach the delightful medieval village of Monteriggioni

Once you reach your destination, you can leave your car at the Cipressino parking facility and walk down the road to the village, or drive to the Castello parking facility, which is smaller but located very close to the walls that surround the village.

What to see in Monteriggioni

The castle of Monteriggioni, built between 1214 and 1219, is a very small medieval fortification that can be easily visited in a couple of hours, lingering afterwards to eat at one of the many typical restaurants in the area.

To visit Monteriggioni is to immerse yourself in a distant past that will seem very real. Not to be missed is a stroll atop the walls, from where you can admire the olive groves below and imagine the grueling battles that were fought here to defend the Republic of Siena up until 1555.

The historic center of Monteriggioni, enclosed entirely by walls, can easily be visited on foot. The heart is Piazza Roma, on which the church of Santa Maria Assunta stands. This church was built in the same period as the castle at the beginning of the 13th century. In the center of the square there is an ancient well, which is the protagonist of many legends. According to one of these, at the bottom of the well there are a series of underground tunnels that supposedly lead all way to Siena. In these tunnels, the soul of Captain Zeti, still without peace after the betrayal that led him to hand Monteriggioni over to the Florentines in 1554, still continues to wander.

Also worth a visit is the Monteriggioni Armor Museum, which contains many reproductions of medieval armors, some of which visitors can even try on!

L'articolo A trip to Monteriggioni proviene da Macinatico.