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TERME DI RAPOLANO
 
At 9 Km. from Podere Pozzo there are two spas whose mineral springs naturally from the springs at a temperature of 39 °.
The healing properties known since Roman times for the natural elements that make up the (sulfur and calcium bicarbonate) combined with temperature, make them particularly suitable for the treatment of the skin, joints and in the form of aerosol treatment of the airways.
 

AROUND

SIENA
 
At 20 Km. from Siena Podere Pozzo found that is a fascinating medieval town in the center of Tuscany.
The quality of city life made. The first municipality d 'Europe to close its center to traffic in 1966. Siena, international place of culture, boasting a University "young" 750 years and is home to prestigious institutions such as the Chigi Music Academy, the University for Foreigners, the Academy of Fisiocritici and Intronati. The city where every stone has remained unchanged over the centuries, where he breathes a 'atmosphere that you can not find anywhere else, because its people have kept alive the traditions of the fathers, like those related to the Palio, renewing them every year with unchanged strength and enthusiasm.
Siena, Etruscan, was a Roman colony with the name of Sena Julia; its greatest importance grew in the Middle Ages, first as the Lombards and then passed under the Carolingian domination. After a long period of episcopal dominion (9th to 'the 11th century), the city reached its peak of power after becoming a municipality (1147), by adopting a policy of expansion towards the bordering territories. Confrontation with Florence was inevitable and the struggle lasted, with various vicissitudes, until 1555, when after a long siege, Siena was conquered by the Florentines, losing its autonomy and becoming part of the Duchy, sharing its fortunes until ' Unification of Italy (1861).
The main attractions to see in Siena are, Piazza del Campo, in the heart of the city, the Government Building in red brick building overlooking Piazza del Campo with the Civic Museum in which are preserved many treasures of Siena, including some interesting frescoes on the role of government and the Mangia Tower which you can climb and enjoy the whole city of Siena.
Do not miss the Piazza del Duomo, where to buy a pass to visit the interior of the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Cathedral Museum where to enjoy another beautiful view of the city, and the crypt. Inside the cathedral the beautiful floor and the Piccolomini Library.
The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena are preserved masterpieces by Duccio, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti, among others.
Also visit Santa Maria della Scala, in front of the Duomo. It is an early example of "hospital" (understood as a place of hospitality) in Europe, which welcomed pilgrims who came to Rome on the Via Francigena.

 

CASTLE BROLIO
 
At 15 Km. from Podere Pozzo is the Castle of Brolio in Chianti, whose first stones date back to Medieval times. The castle came into the possession of the Ricasoli through the exchange of lands already in 1141. Being on the border between the territories of Siena and Florence Brolio soon become the scene of all the contrasts of time, representing Florentine bulwark against the formidable Siena. Over the centuries the castle has suffered assaults and destruction in many historical battles, from the fifteenth attacks Aragonese and Spanish, the seventeenth-century disputes, until the air raids and artillery of World War II.
Today the castle, rebuilt several times and changed, bears the marks of the different eras, from the ramparts of the medieval fortified placements of Romanesque and Gothic, until the nineteenth century Tuscan specificity.
The castle is surrounded 230 hectares of vineyards that are part of the land of the company, the largest in the Chianti Classico: 1,200 hectares between the towns of Gaiole and Castelnuovo Berardenga - valleys, hills, forests of oak and chestnut, with 26 hectares with olive trees, enjoying the beauty and the wide variety of soils and climate in this central Chianti area. Near the castle, in the cellars at the forefront, is now pursuing the same mission of excellence in 1872 led Bettino Ricasoli invented the Chianti formula
AREZZO
 
At 50 Km. from Podere Pozzo is located in Arezzo, which is an extraordinarily ancient cities, older than Alexandria. It was one of the most important Etruscan and later Roman city of strategic importance. It was the center of flourishing economic activities, and many valuable monuments among which we remember the Amphitheatre with its considerable remains. Well known were its foundries and factories of artistic red vase (called coralline vases) whose technique spread throughout the Roman world.
In the Middle Ages Arezzo was a free municipality where often prevailed over the interests of the Ghibellines, in antagonism with nearby Florence. After the rout of Campaldino (1289), his fortune was compromised and, despite some recovery in the Tarlati eventually succumb and become a Florentine domain (1384). As such he joined with the rest of Tuscany, the Medici grand duchy.
Few other regions in Italy can offer a natural environment and cultural heritage so vast in such a small area. DiPiero della Francesca frescoes in the cathedral alone are worth a visit in the city. But also the heart of medieval chronicles the great seasons of art and architecture Arezzo. Beside the medieval towers rise up imponenteLoggiato Vasari, the Palace of the Lay Fraternity, synthesis of Gothic and Renaissance architecture and the apse of the church of Santa Maria. In the Basilica of San Domenico is restored Crucifix by Cimabue artist. Many other churches and palaces prove their beauty and their stylistic originality civilization Arezzo and its importance in different historical periods.
Piazza Grande, the second Saturday of June and the first Sunday of September, is the setting of the Saracen Joust, jousting tournament of medieval origin. The same square and most of the historic center, on the first Sunday of the month and the previous Saturday, the antique show. Haggling the price is fine art for "bancherellai" Arezzo, we must adapt. Do not miss the Chianina cattle farms, huge beasts from the typical white coat / black, in the countryside around the city.
MONTEPULCIANO
 
At 45 Km. from Podere Pozzo at the junction of two valleys, the Val d'Orcia and Val di Chiana, Montepulciano rises. Built along the narrow top of a limestone hill, this beautiful medieval village seems the natural continuation of the relief on which it is built.
Arriving by car from the picturesque but more ideal tourist town of Pienza, just eleven kilometers away, the scenery you meet just before reaching the village best represents the idea of ​​the classic Tuscany, made up of hills and green waves cultivated fields, as well known in the world.
Immediately below the city walls and fortifications of the country, you can admire the beautiful church of the Madonna di San Biagio. The pearly white travertine with which the early sixteenth century was built the building stands out in the distance in the surrounding greenery and welcomes in the best way anyone who decides to spend a day strolling through the streets of the village or swim in the warm waters of the nearby sulfur Terme.
Leaving the car in several parking areas located outside the walls is possible to walk along the river that runs through the elegant and ancient urban center that rises along the hills skirting the imposing Renaissance palaces, until reaching the central square. The Piazza Grande, located at the highest point of the country is dominated by the big tower and the Gothic facade of the Town Hall.
Opposite the town hall you can admire the cathedral dating back to the late sixteenth century. Despite the undeniable beauty, Montepulciano is known internationally for its Vino Nobile, one of the most popular Tuscan wines in the world, which is obtained by pressing of the grapes from the vineyards surrounding the village.
PIENZA
 
At 49 Km. from Podere Pozzo Pienza is located in the beautiful Val d'Orcia and is known as the city of Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who was born there in 1405. Pius II he wanted to create a strong urban center worthy and in perfect contrast to the other cities that had, with his family, unjustly marginalized Siena. Claims that famous architects and artists of the worked on a project in which they were implicit royalties constructive and philosophical of an age that opened full of promise: the Italian Renaissance. In just three years, from 1459 to 1462, he rose Pienza, the City of Author, the Ideal City, the City Utopia. The city "born from a thought of love and a dream of beauty" as he wrote Giovanni Pascoli.
The cathedral, the element most grandiose of the ideal city, is the symbol of the great power of Pope Pius II. Built in 1459 and designed by Rossellino, it is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and was built on the ruins of the Romanesque church of Santa Maria. The building inspired albertiniana has a travertine facade divided into three portals and three arches each with a small niche. The sloping roof and the central rosette are characteristics which follow the French Gothic style.
The city has been recognized by UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as the Val d'Orcia which surrounds it. A fraction of the town of Pienza Monticchiello is well known, the ancient village with its keep, its walls and its medieval gate towers over the Val d'Orcia. The inhabitants of Montichiello keep alive the ancient tradition delTeatro Poor, which demonstrates the vitality of the country and the ability of people to meet and to stage its own history and identity.
SAN GIMIGNANO
 
At 60 Km. from Podere Pozzo is San Gimignano, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, must recognize the towers that compose it. Once they were 72 but now only thirteen and conferring elegant town in the province of Siena.
Its world-renowned, not only from the unique architecture, but also by the wealth of works of art and the Vernaccia di San Gimignano a fine white wine which is only produced here. It seems that the vine was introduced for the first time in the Municipality of San Gimignano by a certain Vieri de 'Bardi, from Liguria, around the' 200. They were then his descendants, Zanobi and Angiolo Bardi, the architects developed the cultivation of the vine that will become very popular and famous. Already in 1276 there was a flourishing trade of Vernaccia di San Gimignano, to result, in the "Ordinances of the Tax" of the City of San Gimignano that year, the imposition of a tax of "Threepenny" for each load of Vernaccia outside the City.
The cathedral, completed in 1148 is considered one of the most prestigious museums in Tuscany. Built on three aisles is a container of frescoes by the Florentine School: San Sebastian (Benozzo Gozzoli), Stories of Saint Fina by Domenico Ghirlandaio and wooden statues by Jacopo della Quercia. Also interesting is the Town Hall, which formerly housed the mayor. Currently houses the civic museum and art gallery containing works by artists such as Pinturicchio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Filippino Lippi, Domenico di Michelino, Pier Francesco Fiorentino. Always inside the Town Hall you can visit the hall of Dante with the Majesty of Lippo Memmi and access to the Tower of the Podesta, or Torre Grossa, 54m high and dating back to 1311.
The People's Palace - One of the most important monuments of San Gimignano where is the Civic Museum, rich in paintings of the Florentine and Sienese schools of the thirteenth century as the Crucifix painted by Coppo di Marcovaldo, the fourteenth century as the triptychs of Nicholas Tegliacci and Taddeo di Bartolo, also important works of the fifteenth century of Domenico Michelino, Pinturicchio and Filippino Lippi. In the halls of the building we find many frescoes on the walls, like the scenes of private life painted by Memmo di Filippuccio and the Majesty painted by Lippo Memmi. On the left side of the Palace rises high and mighty tower built in 1300.
 
MONTERIGGIONI
 
At 40 Km. From Podere Pozzo is the Castle of Monteriggioni, whose surroundings preserve many vestiges of the past, which testify to the fact that it has been inhabited since at least the eighth century BC, as evidenced by the settlement found at Campassini and wide Etruscan necropolis of Casone.
The poles of interest are made from Monteriggioni castle and the nearby Abbey Island, but the whole area is dotted with castles, churches, villas and small villages, immersed in a campaign by heritage.
Enjoy the beauty of this place is also in discovering it on foot, by bike or on horseback, using the many nature trails that our territory has.
Monteriggioni occupies the top of a gentle hill from the slopes with vineyards and olive trees. The castle was founded in the second decade of the thirteenth century the Republic of Siena, with the main aim of creating a defensive outpost against rival Florence.
For centuries, the settlement took place right in the function for which it was created, rejecting each time a host of sieges and attacks. Its military was not from the middle of the sixteenth century, when the whole state of Siena, that our village was in fact part, was annexed to the Florentine.
Monteriggioni still retains much of the structure of the thirteenth century and is set up as a unique place in the panorama of medieval towns in Tuscany. Its walls, a rounded shape, embracing the top of the hill with a linear development of approximately 570 meters and is fitted with fourteen imposing towers that protrude from the outer surface. The village inside the walls are built around a large rectangular square, on which stands the church of S. Maria Assunta. It is definitely the building that best preserves its Medieval, although throughout the town, with its narrow streets, there are still many houses that show their ancient origin.
 
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