Share
Digg
RSS
Tuscany+
Where to sleep
Where to eat
How to get here
Our proposals
Mobile App
Multimedia
Download
This 20.5 km leg begins in Monteriggioni and takes in about 6 hours to complete. Leave Monteriggioni and walk along the road in the Sienese hills to the medieval village of Cerbaia. It runs through the woods up to the Castle of Chiocciola and the Castle of Villa, before descending down toward Pian del Lago.
Then cross the Renai woods before arriving at Porta Camollia, the traditional Via Francigena entrance to Siena. In the city, walk down Banchi di Sopra and then up to the end of this leg in Piazza del Campo, the Duomo and then the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala.
Thig leg is relatively quick and easy, but complicated by the lack of water supply and food along the way.
TO DOWNLOAD A MAP CLICK HERE
Total length (km): 20.5
Type of Travel: On foot, by mountain bike
Travel time on foot (h: min): 4.30
Difference in height (m): 330
Descent (m): 282
Maximum height (m): 354
Difficulty: Medium
Paved roads: 42%
Dirt roads and driveways: 33%
Mule tracks and trails: 25%
Cycling: 95%
Getting to the starting point: FS Empoli-Siena Line, Castellina Scalo station
WHAT TO SEE
Monteriggioni - Located about 4 km from Monteriggioni is the Abbey of San Salvatore all'Isola, founded in 1001 by Countess Ava, from the family of the Lords of Staggia. The monastery was built in Borgonuovo, along the route of the Via Francigena, and it soon became a place of hospitality for pilgrims and travelers. There remains today the beautiful Romanesque church (mostly from the twelfth century), whose double-portal of the facade is probably a symbolic reference to the same scheme used in the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The local monastery is today a modern guest house for pilgrims, a documentation center and a museum of the Via Francigena. Along the route of the Via Francigena also stands the hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago. The presence of significant local religious figures, including the Blessed Agostino Novello, helped turn it into a place of pilgrimage.
Siena - Museum of Biccherne the State Archives of Siena: here is kept a work that takes as its subject the arrival of an embassy in Siena in 1498. The painter, close to Girolamo di Benvenuto, created a lively and large group, composed of several armed horsemen and some infantry on foot, while he is entering Siena. Based on their expression of amazement, the characters were identified with the ambassadors of some Italian or foreign state in admiration at the magnificence of the city they were entering. During 1498, Pandolfo Petrucci the Magnificent, the future ruler of Siena, enacts a tortuous political battle against Italian powers at war, maintaining contacts with both Venice and with the League of Florence and Milan: thus, at the end of August, the Venetian ambassador Alvise Sagundino came to Siena. The group is following, almost in procession, the Via Francigena in the section north of the city, and it features the Antiporto and "torrazzo" Camollia (which no longer exists today), two well-developed ports of the defensive city walls. You'll also notice the small hospital of St. Anthony, and that of the Holy Sepulchre (which no longer exists): here there were accommodations for many travelers and pilgrims.
In the twelfth century, in front of the hospital that has long welcomed the visit of pilgrims to the Via Francigena, the Cathedral was built with beautiful marble and frescoes using natural colors. To see these materials just go to the Museum of Natural History of the Academy of Fisiocritici. Here is preserved a collection of marbles used in the Cathedral of Siena; it is important to know the types used and the quarries of origins it is valuable information for the restoration and maintenance over time.
The museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala - Almost all the great Sienese artists worked for the Santa Maria della Scala, Siena's main hospital built in the stretch of the Via Francigena, mentioned for the first time in a deed in 1090. It was used for centuries as a hospital and hospice for pilgrims, the poor and abandoned children. One of the most important features is the largest hospital ward dedicated to pilgrims, built in the third decade of the fourteenth century and frescoed around the middle of the fifteenth century. The scenes on one side celebrating the legendary history and real hospital; on the other, they are a representation of the activities of reception of pilgrims, nursing the sick and care for the poor and orphans.
HOSPITALITY FOR PILGRIMS
- Monteriggioni: Vacation home Santa Maria Assunta, P.za Rome 23 - Tel 304 214 0577 - Cell 335 6651581/9009134 - dondoriano@interfree.it - casaferiesma@yahoo.it - 20 spots
- Monteriggioni: Parish of Christ the King, Christ the King P.za 1, loc. Castellina Scalo - Tel 0577 304214 - 335 6651581 Cell (Don Doriano) - Sleeps 6 - located 3.8 km from Monteriggioni - Reservations required - Only Pilgrims with Credentials - sleeping bag required - 1.6 km from the official route (Via Cassia north loc. Column)
- Monteriggioni: Parish of St. Michael in Recine, 3 km from Monteriggioni - Tel 304 214 0577 - Cell 335 6651581 (Don Doriano) - 40 spots
- Monteriggioni: The refuge in Strove, by G. Matteotti, loc. Strove - Reservations at tel. +39 0577 301002, +39 0577 300000 - 6 bunk beds for a total of 12 beds - there are 12 lockers, a small kitchen consisting of two electric burners, a fridge, a sink - TV - a PC workstation equipped with ADSL internet key - two bathrooms - one washer dryer - large shady garden - Contact information: Tourist Office of Monteriggioni, tel +39 0577 304834, info@monteriggioniturismo.it, www.monteriggioniturismo.it
- Siena: Caritas, Via della Diana 4 - Tel 0577 280 643 - caritas@carita-sfiera.org - www.caritas-siena.org - Variable spots - only men
- Siena: Daughters of Charity Convent "St. Vincent", Piazza San Girolamo, 8 - Tel 0577 21271-340 8721787 - casaprovinciale@yahoo.it - Sleeps 5 - Kitchen
- Siena: Youth hostel Guidoriccio, Via Fiorentina 89 - Tel 52 212 0577 - siena@ostellionline.org - 100 spots - Breakfast included
- Siena: S. Regina, Via Piccolomini White - 57 spots - Breakfast included
- Siena: St. Louise Home, Via San Girolamo 8 - Tel 0577 284 377 - 8 spots
Then cross the Renai woods before arriving at Porta Camollia, the traditional Via Francigena entrance to Siena. In the city, walk down Banchi di Sopra and then up to the end of this leg in Piazza del Campo, the Duomo and then the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala.
Thig leg is relatively quick and easy, but complicated by the lack of water supply and food along the way.
TO DOWNLOAD A MAP CLICK HERE
Total length (km): 20.5
Type of Travel: On foot, by mountain bike
Travel time on foot (h: min): 4.30
Difference in height (m): 330
Descent (m): 282
Maximum height (m): 354
Difficulty: Medium
Paved roads: 42%
Dirt roads and driveways: 33%
Mule tracks and trails: 25%
Cycling: 95%
Getting to the starting point: FS Empoli-Siena Line, Castellina Scalo station
WHAT TO SEE
Monteriggioni - Located about 4 km from Monteriggioni is the Abbey of San Salvatore all'Isola, founded in 1001 by Countess Ava, from the family of the Lords of Staggia. The monastery was built in Borgonuovo, along the route of the Via Francigena, and it soon became a place of hospitality for pilgrims and travelers. There remains today the beautiful Romanesque church (mostly from the twelfth century), whose double-portal of the facade is probably a symbolic reference to the same scheme used in the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The local monastery is today a modern guest house for pilgrims, a documentation center and a museum of the Via Francigena. Along the route of the Via Francigena also stands the hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago. The presence of significant local religious figures, including the Blessed Agostino Novello, helped turn it into a place of pilgrimage.
Siena - Museum of Biccherne the State Archives of Siena: here is kept a work that takes as its subject the arrival of an embassy in Siena in 1498. The painter, close to Girolamo di Benvenuto, created a lively and large group, composed of several armed horsemen and some infantry on foot, while he is entering Siena. Based on their expression of amazement, the characters were identified with the ambassadors of some Italian or foreign state in admiration at the magnificence of the city they were entering. During 1498, Pandolfo Petrucci the Magnificent, the future ruler of Siena, enacts a tortuous political battle against Italian powers at war, maintaining contacts with both Venice and with the League of Florence and Milan: thus, at the end of August, the Venetian ambassador Alvise Sagundino came to Siena. The group is following, almost in procession, the Via Francigena in the section north of the city, and it features the Antiporto and "torrazzo" Camollia (which no longer exists today), two well-developed ports of the defensive city walls. You'll also notice the small hospital of St. Anthony, and that of the Holy Sepulchre (which no longer exists): here there were accommodations for many travelers and pilgrims.
In the twelfth century, in front of the hospital that has long welcomed the visit of pilgrims to the Via Francigena, the Cathedral was built with beautiful marble and frescoes using natural colors. To see these materials just go to the Museum of Natural History of the Academy of Fisiocritici. Here is preserved a collection of marbles used in the Cathedral of Siena; it is important to know the types used and the quarries of origins it is valuable information for the restoration and maintenance over time.
The museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala - Almost all the great Sienese artists worked for the Santa Maria della Scala, Siena's main hospital built in the stretch of the Via Francigena, mentioned for the first time in a deed in 1090. It was used for centuries as a hospital and hospice for pilgrims, the poor and abandoned children. One of the most important features is the largest hospital ward dedicated to pilgrims, built in the third decade of the fourteenth century and frescoed around the middle of the fifteenth century. The scenes on one side celebrating the legendary history and real hospital; on the other, they are a representation of the activities of reception of pilgrims, nursing the sick and care for the poor and orphans.
HOSPITALITY FOR PILGRIMS
- Monteriggioni: Vacation home Santa Maria Assunta, P.za Rome 23 - Tel 304 214 0577 - Cell 335 6651581/9009134 - dondoriano@interfree.it - casaferiesma@yahoo.it - 20 spots
- Monteriggioni: Parish of Christ the King, Christ the King P.za 1, loc. Castellina Scalo - Tel 0577 304214 - 335 6651581 Cell (Don Doriano) - Sleeps 6 - located 3.8 km from Monteriggioni - Reservations required - Only Pilgrims with Credentials - sleeping bag required - 1.6 km from the official route (Via Cassia north loc. Column)
- Monteriggioni: Parish of St. Michael in Recine, 3 km from Monteriggioni - Tel 304 214 0577 - Cell 335 6651581 (Don Doriano) - 40 spots
- Monteriggioni: The refuge in Strove, by G. Matteotti, loc. Strove - Reservations at tel. +39 0577 301002, +39 0577 300000 - 6 bunk beds for a total of 12 beds - there are 12 lockers, a small kitchen consisting of two electric burners, a fridge, a sink - TV - a PC workstation equipped with ADSL internet key - two bathrooms - one washer dryer - large shady garden - Contact information: Tourist Office of Monteriggioni, tel +39 0577 304834, info@monteriggioniturismo.it, www.monteriggioniturismo.it
- Siena: Caritas, Via della Diana 4 - Tel 0577 280 643 - caritas@carita-sfiera.org - www.caritas-siena.org - Variable spots - only men
- Siena: Daughters of Charity Convent "St. Vincent", Piazza San Girolamo, 8 - Tel 0577 21271-340 8721787 - casaprovinciale@yahoo.it - Sleeps 5 - Kitchen
- Siena: Youth hostel Guidoriccio, Via Fiorentina 89 - Tel 52 212 0577 - siena@ostellionline.org - 100 spots - Breakfast included
- Siena: S. Regina, Via Piccolomini White - 57 spots - Breakfast included
- Siena: St. Louise Home, Via San Girolamo 8 - Tel 0577 284 377 - 8 spots
