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From
its ideal vantage point overlooking a striking landscape of Tuscany, La
Ciabatta is located in Casole D'Elsa and has been the subject of careful
restoration of its original antique farm houses, dating back to the
1700's. Great care has been taken to ensure that the restoration
incorporates original materials where guests will find cool interiors
complete with beamed ceilings and terracotta floorings.
Re-furbished into 8 apartments all equipped with a modern cooking corner
and furnished in perfect Tuscan style, all apartments have a telephone,
satellite TV, with most bedrooms come furnished with attractive four
poster beds while some also include terraces. Surrounded by nature, but
yet only 2 kilometers from the town of Casole D'Elsa where one can find
things like grocery stores, pharmacies, various shops, churches,
hairdressers, etc.., La Ciabatta is the perfect relaxing holiday. |
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All of
the Ciabatta's apartments are unique and comfortable and furnished in
exquisite Tuscan style with terracotta flooring, beamed ceilings, with a
careful selection of furniture and tapestries.
All apartments are equipped with a modern cooking angle, telephone,
Satellite TV, and heating, and can all be found on the ground floor. One
can choose from the following types available which would most likely
fill your needs:
1 -
One-Room apartment for 2 people consisting of an open air kitchen
corner / living-room / bedroom with a queen sized bed, and bathroom.
3 -
Two-Room apartments for 2 or 3 people consisting of a bedroom with
queen-sized bed, open air kitchen corner / living room with full sized
sofa-bed and bathroom.
1 -
Three-Room Standard apartment for 2 or 3 people consisting of a
bedroom with queen-sized bed, living-room with full-sized sofa bed,
kitchen corner and bathroom.
3 -
Three-Room Superior apartments for 4 or 5 people consisting of a
master bedroom with queen-sized bed, smaller bedroom with full-sized or
twin beds, 2 bathrooms, and living-room with kitchen corner.
For those with no terraces there are spaces however available outside
the apartments, created to offer an environment for leisure and relax,
like our Wooden Gazebo which can also be used to enjoy a meal outdoors.
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Summer guests can also enjoy our lovely swimming pool for moments of
refreshment or relaxing.
The
Surroundings:
Casole d'Elsa is a charming medieval hilltop town situated in
wonderful countryside around Siena. Originally it was a domain of the
Bishop of Volterra but in the middle of the 13th century it passed under
the control of Siena. The Sienese strengthened the fortifications
because of its strategic position. In 1554 Casole surrendered, after
strenuous resistance, to the imperial and Florentine armies during the
war against Siena. The dualism between Siena and Volterra still survives
in the daily life of Casole for political purposes it is in the Province
of Siena, whereas it falls under the Diocese of Volterra for religious
matter.
The
shape of Casole is roughly an elongated pear; it is about 400 meters
long (North-South) and about 130 meters wide (East-West). The medieval
walls, mainly visible on the Westside of the town, enclose it. In the
middle of the village runs the main street from north to south, dividing
it into two nearly symmetrical parts.
At each
end of the main street were the Gates of the town; to the north Porta ai
Frati, to the south Porta Rivellino. Unfortunately these two Gates are
no longer in existence. In some old photographs is possible to see Porta
Rivellino before it was destroyed during the Second World War, by Nazi
troops in an attempt to prevent the advancement of the allied tanks. On
the eastside of the village are two well-conserved rounded towers, built
in 1481 to strengthen the already existing fortifications. At the south
end is the Rocca, an imposing squared castle with a massive stone tower.
Over the years this building has been altered innumerable times and
nowadays its original aspect is almost invisible. Today the Rocca serves
as the Town Hall and is thus the most important civil building in Casole
and dominates the second Piazza of Casole - Piazza della Libertà.
Dominating the main Piazza della Libertà, is Casole's most important
religious building, the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta, which
has also been altered many times over the centuries. The Church was
consecrated in 1161 and of this original primitive construction there
remains the base of the 3 apses in the crypt under the actual level of
the pavement. It would seem that the bases and capitals of the pillars,
which divided the Church into 3 naves, were removed when the Church was
reconstructed and were reused in the splendid Church of San Niccolò not
far away. Flanking the Church on the right is the Clergy house, which
contains the Cloisters, also much altered.
San Gimignano rises on a hill (334 m), dominating the Elsa valley
with its towers. Seat of a small Etruscan village of the Hellenistic
period (the 3rd and the 2nd century B.C.), its history started around
the 10th century and the town takes its name from St. Gimignano, Bishop
of Modena, who is said to have saved the village from hordes of
barbarians. It developed greatly during the Middle Ages thanks to the
"Via Francigena" a route that crossed it. Such development led to the
flourishing of works of art that adorned the churches and monasteries.
In 1199 it became a free Municipality, fighting against the Bishops of
Volterra and against the surrounding municipalities. It suffered from
internal struggles dividing itself into two factions headed by the
Ardinghelli family (Guelphs) and the Salvucci family (Ghibellines). On
8th May 1300, Dante Alighieri came to San Gimignano as the Ambassador of
the Guelph League in Tuscany. The terrible Black Death in 1348 and the
following depopulation of San Gimignano led to a serious crisis and
therefore it was forced to submit to Florence. San Gimignano managed to
overcome its degradation and isolation in the following centuries when
its beauty and cultural importance together with its original
agricultural identity, were rediscovered.
Siena is a pretty town with about 57,000 inhabitants located in
the centre of Italy, in the heart of Tuscany. It is a lovely hilltop
place founded by the Etruscans, where old buildings and precious works
of art bear witness the magnificence and prosperity of Siena in the past
centuries.
Piazza del Campo (Campo square) is the heart of the town. Montaigne
praised it as "the most beautiful square of all the cities" as far back
as 1580 and at the beginning of this century Henry James remembered
that, assisted by the moonshine, he had "half-an-hour's infinite vision
of medieval Italy".
The "Palazzo Pubblico" (Town Hall) and the "Torre del Mangia" (Mangia
Tower) which overhang the square are the utmost proofs of municipal
pride which in the Middle Ages exalted the life of the municipality of
Siena. The Palazzo Pubblico was built at the end of the 13th century and
it witnesses the growing need for bigger magisterial buildings for the
ruling aristocracy. It was decorated by the artists of the Sienese
school which was rapidly becoming famous throughout the whole of Italy
and abroad.
The cathedral, completed at the end of XIV century, "the most beautiful
monument of gothic magnificence" (E. Gibbon, 1764), "a work of
goldsmithery in stone" (H. James), and the Pinacoteca Nazionale
(National Art Gallery), where a collection of masterpieces by the
greatest artists of Senese painting (such as Simone Martini, Pietro and
Ambrogio Lorenzetti) can be admired, are other important places.
Siena is the seat of one of the oldest Universities in Europe,
founded in 1240, and of one of the oldest banks, the "Monte dei Paschi",
founded in 1624.
Monteriggioni is positioned just 15 km to the north east of Siena
and is a perfect example of a hilltop medieval town. It is surrounded
by high walls with 14 fortified towers. Dante, used Monteriggioni as a
simile for the deepest abyss at the heart of his inferno. Inside the
walls, the town itself is quite small consisting of a central square and
a Romanesque church.
West of
the town is the Abbadia dell'Isola which contains frescoes by
Taddeo di Bartolo and Vincenzo Tamagni.
The “magic and mysterious” city of Volterra has its roots in
three thousand years of history. It is possible to find evidence and
traces from every historical period which gives the artistic city a
unique aspect.
The ancient city walls, the imposing Porta all’Arco, the
Necropolis of Marmini and the numerous archeological finds conserved in
the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci like the Ombra della Sera with its unique
profile, the funeral urns and the finely crafted jewelry, bear testimony
of the Etruscan period.
The Theatre of Vallebona survives from the period of Augustus and
suggests the importance of Volterra under Roman domination.
Today
the city conserves above all a Medieval aspect not only for the 12th
century city walls but also because of the urban layout with narrow
streets, palaces, tower houses and churches.
The Renaissance had an important influence on Volterra but without
changing the city’s Medieval character. From this period are the
superb palaces of Minucci Solaini, Incontri-Viti and Inghirami, which
are built into the Medieval city, the imposing Fortezza Medicea and the
Convent of San Girolamo. |
