7.9 The land without the sweetness of trees
Only then did they begin to love each other truly, and they knew how to divine their thoughts. In the evening, they heard singing from inside the taverns, and it seemed as if all those hovels in Via dei Pispini, with their thin walls, trembled with the voices of the drunkards, as if they too had been drinking with all their tenants.
(Federigo Tozzi, Il Podere)
The starting point for this rather demanding route is Porta Pispini, from where you take the road to Due Ponti. Here, at the large roundabout at the end of the initial downhill section, you come onto the cycle path. Ride along the cycle/pedestrian path for just over a kilometre; when you reach the Fango Nero area, where the protected section ends, continue (watch out when crossing) along Strada del Ruffolo, Taverne d’Arbia, and then Arbia, where the Crete Senesi area begins.
‘La terra senza dolcezza d’alberi, la terra arida che rompe sotto Siena il suo mareggiare morto’ (‘The land without the sweetness of trees, the arid land that breaks beneath Siena with its dead tide’). And later, ‘Questa terra eccita e alimenta la condizione enigmatica dell’uomo: la rappresenta e la asseconda. Ciascuno di noi ha dentro di sé queste perplessità dense di mistero e qui trovano un luogo’ (‘This land excites and nourishes man’s enigmatic condition: it represents and supports it. Each one of us has within us these perplexities full of mystery, and this is where they find a place’). These are the words of the poet Mario Luzi about the Crete Senesi, the territory on which most of this route, with its undulating, elevated terrain, will run.
Immediately after Arbia, the landscape changes abruptly, and you find yourself catapulted into a ‘different world’ of gullies, ‘biancane’ (a term synonymous with the ‘crete’—clay hills), and ‘mammelloni’ (rounded hills in the shape of, as the term expresses, large udders). And then bald, washed-out, grey, astral hills, scoured by water, eroded by the wind, in summer folds of land tormented by the sun. An ocean of lunar land, dotted with a few farmhouses clinging to the hills, as if to dominate the territory.
Ride along the Strada Lauretana in the direction of Asciano, a tongue of asphalt cutting through a rough terrain, which begins to climb sharply after a couple of kilometres.
The asphalt road from Arbia to the crossroads signposted for San Martino in Grania is quite demanding, with some steep uphill sections. At high altitude, you come to a marked vantage point where you can stop to catch your breath and, above all, to admire the vast panorama that sweeps across the Val d’Arbia and beyond.
Leaving San Martino and its legend behind, start riding in the direction of Monteroni. A 10-kilometre stretch of unpaved road of rare beauty awaits you; it tends to descend in stages (watch out for some challenging stretches) towards the alluvial plain of the Arbia. Once in the valley and past San Fabiano, you are at the threshold of Monteroni d’Arbia, the most important town in the entire Val d’Arbia.
Among the castles mentioned, San Fabiano, which is only a couple of kilometres from the centre of the village, is worth a visit. The tower of the castle is unusual, as it was part of a system of signal towers along the Via Francigena, such as that of Radicofani to the south and the Torre del Mangia in Siena. Also noteworthy is the small church, dedicated to San Fabiano, pope from 236 to 250, a dedication not uncommon even at our latitudes and often associated with the cult of San Sebastiano, whose phalanx is preserved in the church as a relic. With regard to St Fabian, Eusebius recounts that the Christians, gathered in Rome to elect a new bishop, saw a dove land on the head of Fabian, a peasant who happened to be in town, while they were considering the names of various illustrious candidates. The religious interpreted the event as a repetition of the Gospel scene of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Saviour, and so, divinely inspired, they unanimously chose Fabian as Peter’s successor.
The castle church, a single-nave building, in addition to the extraordinary semi-circular apse with original 9th-century bases, partly preserves the old brick exterior walling. Of particular note is the bell gable and the façade with decorative elements such as the portal architrave with the coat of arms of the Forteguerri family, who owned the estate until the beginning of the 20th century. The interior is surprising for its simplicity as well as for the fact that, in addition to the relic of St Sebastian, it houses a large oil painting on wood from the Piedmontese school entitled La Madonna del Rosario (The Madonna of the Rosary), said to have been painted by a certain ‘Bianchetus’, who some French studies refer to a ‘Jaquet Blanchet’, a 15th-century painter from the diocese of Turin. The castle is now owned by Florentine counts.
The second part of this route, about 20 km, starts from the centre of Monteroni along the Provinciale di Grotti road. The asphalt road, leaving the last houses of the village behind, begins to climb with a slight incline and then descends towards the short plain traversed by the Torrente Sorra, which flows at the foot of the village of Radi. These kilometres are also characterised by the magnificence of the breathtaking views that extend southwards to the austere profile of Monte Amiata. You can ride with confidence as there is little motorised traffic, a feature that has been a positive feature of nearly all of this itinerary. To reach the village of Radi, you have to ‘climb’ the hill from where you can see the plain below; Radi is dominated by the mighty bulk of a castle, now converted into a villa, of which a beautiful scarped tower remains, and by the Romanesque church of San Pietro.
At Radi, head in the direction of Siena along a dirt road that continues for about 7 km in a continuous alternation of gentle climbs (beautiful views of the City of the Palio) and equally gentle descents; the last stretch of dirt road before the final kilometres along the Cassia (watch out for traffic) is quite demanding, though.
In the Heart of the Crete Senesi
ⒸAntonio Cinotti
If you want to pedal right into the ‘heart’ of the Crete and enjoy an experience with a strong emotional impact, as well as a physical one (the route suggested here, mostly on clay, can be travelled on mountain bikes only in dry weather), follow the signs for ‘Leonina’ and the castello (castle) of the same name, a fortified complex dating back to medieval times that is now a well-known relais. Where the dirt road ends and becomes a clay path, lies the Sito Transitorio (Transitional Site), a magical place that perfectly combines art and nature, consisting of a double sculpture (a seat and a large stone window) created by French artist Jean Paul Philippe in 1993. From here, continue cycling along a clay path that proceeds in a series of twists and turns until you reach Mucigliani, a hamlet far from everything, clinging to the top of a hill with a unique view of the Crete, the first spurs of Chianti, and even further away, Siena.
San Martino in Grania
The pieve (parish) of San Martino in Grania is mentioned as early as the Longobard period, also known as ‘Ligrania’. In fact, in 801, in the Masse di Siena, Charlemagne’s son, Pepin, founded the women’s monastery of Saints Abundio and Abundanzio and wrote in a deed that ‘the Pieve di Grania would be helped and supported in exchange for food and lodging for the 12 nuns of the Ordine Benedettino’ (of the monastery under his protection as confirmed by Sister Giuditta Luti who, at the end of the 16th century, wrote the chronicles of the monastery itself). Over the course of the centuries, the pieve acquired increasing importance, growing larger and richer, to the extent that Siena appointed a podestà, Leoncino Squarcialupi, to administer it in 1287. In 1777, a grand-ducal decree merged the communes of Grania and San Martino (hence its name) with the community of Asciano. Today, it is in a state of disrepair, but you can still discern the attachment of the nave roof and the remains of the columns, surmounted by exquisitely crafted capitals, which were the entrance portals of the side walls: the one on the left led to the rectory, while the one on the right was a second entrance.
ⒸAntonio Cinotti
San Martino in Grania is a place rich in history and charm, to which a legend is also linked. One day, a very poor farmer on the road below the pieve met a traveller who, on seeing the poor man’s need, gave him a hundred gold coins that the farmer hid under the manure; the next day, his wife sold it all. The man, in despair, set out again and met the traveller again, who gave him another hundred gold coins, which the farmer hid in the ashes of the fireplace, which his wife sold the next day. The farmer, increasingly desperate, found the man who gave him some fish. The farmer exchanged the fish for a lamb and, before going to sleep, hung it outside the door to drain it. That night there was a terrible storm; in the morning, the farmer saw a large number of hunters arriving at his house with many gifts. In the midst of the storm, the lamb had lit up and had shown them the way to safety.
Monteroni d’Arbia
The economic development of Monteroni is largely linked to the expansion of the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala of Siena, which acquired a great deal of land there in the early 1200s. In 1322, the construction of a grandiose mill by the Sienese institution in front of the existing church of San Donato triggered the growth of the village of Monteroni (some have suggested that the Monteroni mill is the one depicted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the fresco of ‘Buon Governo’ in Palazzo Pubblico). In the 14th century, the entire town was clustered around the mill and the two churches, San Donato and San Giusto, located along the Francigena road. While the village was almost completely owned by Santa Maria della Scala (the mill, the palazzo used as a granary, two taverns, and several other buildings), the surrounding land remained for a long time the property of the great magnate families of Siena, including the Tolomeis, Piccolominis, and Mignanellis.
The Grancia di Cuna played a fundamental role in this territory, not only because it administered it on behalf of the Ospedale di Siena, but also because it brought about many technical improvements in agriculture, such as the reclamation of land near the river Arbia, and in construction, with the fortification of defensive structures, the building of bridges, and the regulation of water. However, over the centuries, the area around Monteroni has been subject to various tragic events that prevented its demographic growth and caused enormous damage to both its buildings and population. These include the various pestilential waves, starting with the infamous ‘Black Death’ of 1348, which was the most devastating. Then, in the mid-14th century, the territory suffered repeated raids by the Compagnie di Ventura and, during the ‘War of Siena’ (1553–1555), heavy damage from imperial troops, such as those that struck the mill, the churches of Monteroni, Lucignano, and Ponte d’Arbia, and the most strategically important castles such as San Fabiano, Sant’Ansano Gherardi, Radi, and Ville di Corsano.
Radi
Founded in the early Middle Ages, Radi was known as Radi di Creta, to distinguish it from the nearby Radi di Montagna, close to Sovicille. Documented since 1080, in the 13th century it was the seat of a castle and a municipality of some importance, and the residence of a podestà and a civil notary. In 1271, it became the property of the Placidi family, but the castle was besieged and conquered in 1365 by the mercenary troops of John Hawkwood, Giovanni Acuto, who caused so much destruction in the territory of Siena that Saint Catherine herself addressed a letter to the condottiere to convince him to let the inhabitants of the area live in peace. Acuto was deaf even to the words of the Saint and continued his actions, as the mercenary militia used to do. The castle of Radi was rebuilt but was destroyed by the Florentine army who, as Sigismondo Tizio narrates in his ‘Cronache’ (‘Chronicles’), set it on fire and reduced it to a pile of rubble. Radi was bought in 1666 by Marquis Metello Bichi, whose heirs are still the owners today.