Poggibonsi and surroundings ...
| Poggibonsi
was the “Podium Bonitii” of the middle ages. Poggio
Bonizio
first becomes known towards the end of the XIIIth century as a town at
the point where the rivers Staggia and Elsa meet, on the famous via
Francigena. |
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 Poggibonsi |
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Poggio Bonizio was
destroyed in
the 1270 by Guy de Montfort, a legendary figure even in Tuscany - he
merits a cameo role in Boccaccio's Decameron as well as Verdi's
Sicilian Vespers. The town was rebuilt in the lower valley, on the site
of the village Marturi.The modern town, much damaged by bombs during
the second world war, it is nowadays the biggest industrial area of the
Valdelsa. In the city centre we can find the two churches of San
Lorenzo and the Choral, the Town Hall with the mayor's crests standing
next a battlemented tower.Sites of interest are the Fonte delle fate
(fairies' fountain) of the 13th century, by Balugano da Crema, with its
beautiful ogival arches and the unfinished fortress, designed in 1478
by Giuliano da Sangallo at the request of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In
the XIVth century convent of San Lucchese, first belonging to the
Camaldolese order and then from 1213 to the Franciscans, there are
frescoes of the XIVth and XVIth century and an urn containing the
remains of San Lucchese, patron of the town.
Here are some pictures of the numerous sightseeings of Poggibonsi and surroundings:  Strozzavolpe Poggibonsi offers the visitor historical sites of particular artistic interest: Palazzo Pretorio, in gothic style (the façade is decorated with many coats of arms, among which one representing a lion standing on its hind legs,the symbol of Poggibonsi ), the Magione of San Giovanni
al Ponte, a rare example of a preserved and restored medieval structure
dating
back to the XIIth century, the Collegiata of S. Maria
Assunta, in front of Palazzo Pretorio; it is a religious building
restored in
1680, partly in seventeenth-century style and partly in neoclassical
style, the fortress of Poggio
Imperiale, a Medicean fortress built between 1488 and 1511 by Giuliano
Sangallo
on charge of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Santuario di Romituzzo,
erected near the oratory by some female hermits, the church of San Lucchese,
first belonging to the Camaldolese order and then from 1213 to the
Franciscans
(there are frescoes of the XIVth and XVIth century and an urn
containing the
remains of San Lucchese the patron of the town), the the |
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Nei
dintorni:
For its position
it allows to
visit the main centers of historical interest of the Tuscany like Saint
Gimignano (11 km), Monteriggioni (10 km), Siena (23 km), Volterra (30
km) Ceraldo (10 km), Florence (the 40 km) and small farms of the
chianti with their prestigious wine cellars.
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 San Gimignano |
 Monteriggioni |
 Siena |
 Volterra |
 Firenze |
 Chianti |