02Jan 0 The town of Colle di Val d’Elsa in Tuscany Posted By: Elena Spolaor All about Chianti Italy, Chianti, Italy, Towns & Villages of Chianti, Towns of the Province of Sienna Colle di Val d'ElsaThe town of Colle di Val d'Elsa in Tuscany Colle di Val d’Elsa has a congested and uninteresting new town in the valley which often causes visitors to miss its small but attractive old town on the ridge above, overlooking the River Elsa. The main piazza of the old town of Colle di Val d’Elsa The older part of Colle di Val d’Elsa is entered through the huge Porta Nova. The narrow main street has a number of fine 16-17 C patrician villas, including the Palazzo Usimbardi, the Palazzo Buoninsegni, the Town Hall and the Palazzo Campana, located at the entry to the Castello, the oldest part of Colle di Val d’Elsa. This part of the town is characterised by narrow lanes and earlier, 15-16 C palazzi, among them the Palazzo Luci, the Palazzo Morozzi, the Palazzo Giusti and the Palazzo Dini. There are also several Tuscan tower-houses such as the birthplace of Arnolfo di Cambio. View of Colle di Val d’Elsa old town Colle di Val d’Elsa is the home of two important provincial museums, the Museum of Civic and Religious Art and the Archaeological Museum, as well as quite a good Museum of Lead-Crystal Glass. It has long been a major centre of Italian crystal glass production. The massive Porta Nuova (Porta Volterrana) is one of the main sights and there are a number of interesting churches both within Colle di Val d’Elsa and nearby, among them the Abbazia di Conéo, a Romanesque structure with many pre-romanesque decorative features. Worth a visit. More about Colle di Val d’Elsa. Here are some similar topics: Castelnuovo Berardenga Things to see and do in During the days of the Republic of Sienna, the territory or district of Berardenga was the area between the headwaters of the Bozzone torrent and the Ambra river, and between upper Chianti and the Biena river as far as Taverne d'Arbia. Today, marks the [...] Read More » The hamlet of Lucarelli in Chianti Lucarelli in ChiantiWhat to see in the hamlet of Lucarelli in Chianti Lucarelli is a hamlet of just a few houses, a church, a restaurant and a trattoria, located on the road running from the Via Chiantigiana between Panzano and Castellina, towards Radda in Chianti. The Ristoro Lucarelli trattoria The Pieve di San Giusto in [...] Read More » San Gimignano Visit the tower houses of , Italy tower houses , a small town in the Province of Sienna in Tuscany, Italy, is, of course, famous for its tower houses. At its peak, the richest families of had erected as many as 72 tower houses as symbols of their [...] Read More » Il Ferrone The village of , a major terracotta manufacturing area in Chianti is a village in Chianti on one of the two popular routes from Florence to Greve in Chianti, and is a major centre of terracotta manufacturing in Italy. Indeed, Ferrone, as it is commonly known, is famous world-wide for a [...] Read More » Montefioralle The fortified village of near Greve in Chianti, Tuscany The small village of is one of the best-preserved and most interesting mediaeval fortified villages in Chianti, indeed in the whole of Tuscany. The original name of was Monteficale - the village claims an entire verse under that name in the Ninfale [...] Read More »
