Monteriggioni

A short distance from Colle di val d’Elsa is Monteriggioni. As with a few of the other places that I visited on this trip, I had not even heard of it when I woke up in the morning and, therefore, was pleasantly surprised with what I saw when I got there.

Monteriggioni, Tuscany, Italy

Monteriggioni is another one of Tuscany’s many pretty walled cities, this one smaller than most. You arrive on a steep, narrow path and enter underneath a tower. Inside you immediately find a large, mostly empty square. Around the periphery there are a number of parasols shading cafe tables and postcards and souvenirs spilling out of shop fronts.

Monteriggioni, Tuscany, Italy

Away from the main square it quickly got very residential. I liked to see the contrast between the traditional Italian surroundings and the American basket-ball hoop outside one of the houses.

Monteriggioni seems to be a town that hasn’t fully embraced the concept of tourism. On the one hand they charge for a walk on the city walls (I declined), on the other the main square was mostly empty. Is there just not much else there or have they simply resigned themselves to be a place that people stop off en route to somewhere else?

Having seemingly exhausted the possibilities in a fairly short period of time I move on, intending to check out some of the wineries in Castellina in Chianti.

One thought on “Monteriggioni”

  1. Shops, umbrellas and postcards are a giant step up from a mere decade ago. The town is definitely a worthwhile stopover but likely does not have 5-star art in the church. I loved it for its intact walls and utter quiet.

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