The village of Vertine is a tiny fortified town in the Chianti Valley. Walking through its narrow streets is like taking a journey into the glorious past of this area: the stone walls, entrance arches, and towers are a living testament to this.
Vertine is a hamlet in the municipality of Gaiole, in the province of Siena. It is a splendidly preserved fortified village along the Chianti Castle Road.
It lies at the extreme northeastern edge of the Chianti region, nestled against a series of hills known as the Chianti Mountains, which form the watershed with the Upper Valdarno. This area is particularly rich in castles, as it was part of the medieval Chianti League, a Florentine bastion bordering Siena. Its castle is thought to predate the year 1000, although it became a fiefdom of the Ricasoli family in the 12th century. Thanks to a series of circumstances, Vertine was almost never at the center of warlike events such as sieges or looting, and as a result, it has survived without traces of the destruction and reconstruction that led to the degeneration of many other medieval villages. In the 16th century, the fortifications underwent restoration and strengthening, but this did not radically alter their appearance. Even today, the village walls are almost intact, and a splendid rectangular tower, once a keep, stands atop them. This tower is one of the most beautiful and best preserved in Tuscany. Completely restored at the end of the 20th century, it consists of a mighty rectangular tower clad in alberese stone, with segmental-arched windows on each floor. Next to the tower is the northern gate, a twin of the opposite southern gate, which still serves as the only two entrances to the village. The splendid stones used to build the walls and keep are also found in the buildings within, giving Vertine a typically medieval appearance and bringing visitors, wandering its narrow streets, back to the reality of the past.
Today, there are just over twenty inhabited houses, and the atmosphere is one of absolute peace.
Translated by Google •
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