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COLLE VAL D'ELSA
Colle val d'Elsa is located on three different levels called
Borgo( Town), Castello (Castle) and Piano (Plateau), and preserves
important architectonical buildings from the Middle Ages and from
the Renaissance. Flourishing during the Middle Ages, thanks to the
strategic location which allowed the city to control the trading,
Colle became an important print and glass centre.
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| Colle
val d’Elsa became a bishop seat in 1592. From the Porta Nuova
you enter the Borgo, with many palaces, from where you enter Colle
Alta (the high part of Colle, built on the remains of the Castello
di Piticciano. Under you can see Colle Bassa (the low part of Colle),
with the ancient town Spugna which exploited the water of the river
Elsa for the wool, paper and glass manufacturing. The arcade of the
beautiful but not finished Palazzo Campana is the entrance to Colle
Alta which preserves its medieval character. Taking Via di Castello
you reach the tower-house of Arnolfo di Cambio, the local architect
famous for having designed the tower of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
The Palazzo dei Priori hosts the Museo Civico and the Museo di Arte
Sacra. At Piazza Duomo, in the Palazzo Pretorio from the 14th century,
you find the Museo Archeologico which features findings from the Neolithic
period to the Middle Ages. The Duomo is a fascinating example of Italian
Baroque, from the beginning of the 17th century, and it preserves
a crucifix attributed to Giambologna. Exiting the Porta Nuova you
reach the Sanctuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is embellished
with terracotta decorations by the Robbia school and frescoes by the
Sienese school from the 15th centyury. |
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