Small billhooks (roncolini) were used on every farm for processing Iris Pallida, at least four per family. They were used only for one month a year and were used to work the iris. Crafted by the local blacksmith from the finest steel available, they had a handle of chestnut or beech wood. They were used […]
In our Hystoric Chianti, harvesting juniper berries has always been a seasonal activity. Every year, from mid-August until the beginning of the harvest, every farming family took part in the harvest. On every farm, the elders taught the young how to harvest juniper berries. It was a true art. No branch was to be damaged, […]
Old Castellina was an Etruscan town situated at an altitude of 635 meters, halfway between Siena and Florence. It was once known as Salingolpe. <When I was taken to visit the property before purchasing it, I saw, along with a nearly dilapidated farmhouse, a meager plot of land on the top of a hill 630 […]
To speak of Provence in the Chianti region is certainly an exaggeration, yet who would expect to find lavender fields in areas historically dedicated to the cultivation of vines and olive trees ? Rock music blaring welcomes me in the square in front of the Officina Estrattiva, and I think, this is off to a […]
Born in 1892, painter Vittorio Zani was born, studied, worked, and died in Siena in 1972. A true Sienese. He painted the banner for the August Palio, won by the Nobile Contrada del Bruco in 1922. Vittorio Zani created the sketches for the renewal of the costumes for the Palio di Siena in 1928 and […]
