One of Italy's most famous walled villages, still perfectly intact.
In the province of Sienna, half way between Colle Val d'Elsa and the city of Sienna, one finds Monteriggioni, a small medieval village known throughout Italy because the walls which encircle the settlement are still perfectly intact. Dante mentions the village in "the Divine Comedy".
There are 570 meters of wall, 14 towers and two gateways Porta Franca, which faces towards Sienna and Porta St Giovanni, facing towards Florence. Built on a hill top, Monteriggioni was originally a surveillance point looking out over the Elsa and Staggia Valleys.
To see: the 14th Century Parish Church and the Romanesque Abbey Abbadia a Isola of 1001. Cereals, grapes and colza are grown in the surrounding countryside where there are also numerous stud farms. Craft traditions of Monteriggioni include the production of ceramics, and articles made from wood, granite and marble.
