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From its ideal
vantage point overlooking a striking landscape of Tuscany,
La Ciabatta is located in Casole D'Elsa and has been the
subject of careful restoration of its original antique farm
houses, dating back to the 1700's. Great care has been taken
to ensure that the restoration incorporates original
materials where guests will find cool interiors complete
with beamed ceilings and terracotta floorings.
Re-furbished
into 8 apartments all equipped with a modern cooking corner
and furnished in perfect Tuscan style, all apartments have a
telephone, satellite TV, with most bedrooms come furnished
with attractive four poster beds while some also include
terraces. Surrounded by nature, but yet only 2 kilometers
from the town of Casole D'Elsa where one can find things
like grocery stores, pharmacies, various shops, churches,
hairdressers, etc.., La Ciabatta is the perfect relaxing
holiday. |
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All of the
Ciabatta's apartments are unique and comfortable and
furnished in exquisite Tuscan style with terracotta
flooring, beamed ceilings, with a careful selection of
furniture and tapestries.
All apartments are equipped with a modern cooking angle,
telephone, Satellite TV, and heating, and can all be found
on the ground floor. One can choose from the following types
available which would most likely fill your needs:
1 -
One-Room apartment for 2 people consisting of an open
air kitchen corner / living-room / bedroom with a queen
sized bed, and bathroom.
3 -
Two-Room apartments for 2 or 3 people consisting of a
bedroom with queen-sized bed, open air kitchen corner /
living room with full sized sofa-bed and bathroom.
1 -
Three-Room Standard apartment for 2 or 3 people
consisting of a bedroom with queen-sized bed, living-room
with full-sized sofa bed, kitchen corner and bathroom.
3 -
Three-Room Superior apartments for 4 or 5 people
consisting of a master bedroom with queen-sized bed, smaller
bedroom with full-sized or twin beds, 2 bathrooms, and
living-room with kitchen corner.
For those with no terraces there are spaces however
available outside the apartments, created to offer an
environment for leisure and relax, like our Wooden Gazebo
which can also be used to enjoy a meal outdoors. |
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Our Summer
guests can also enjoy our lovely swimming pool for moments
of refreshment or relaxing.
The
Surroundings:
Casole d'Elsa is a charming medieval hilltop town
situated in wonderful countryside around Siena. Originally
it was a domain of the Bishop of Volterra but in the middle
of the 13th century it passed under the control of Siena.
The Sienese strengthened the fortifications because of its
strategic position. In 1554 Casole surrendered, after
strenuous resistance, to the imperial and Florentine armies
during the war against Siena. The dualism between Siena and
Volterra still survives in the daily life of Casole for
political purposes it is in the Province of Siena, whereas
it falls under the Diocese of Volterra for religious matter.
The shape of
Casole is roughly an elongated pear; it is about 400 meters
long (North-South) and about 130 meters wide (East-West).
The medieval walls, mainly visible on the Westside of the
town, enclose it. In the middle of the village runs the main
street from north to south, dividing it into two nearly
symmetrical parts.
At each end of
the main street were the Gates of the town; to the north
Porta ai Frati, to the south Porta Rivellino. Unfortunately
these two Gates are no longer in existence. In some old
photographs is possible to see Porta Rivellino before it was
destroyed during the Second World War, by Nazi troops in an
attempt to prevent the advancement of the allied tanks. On
the eastside of the village are two well-conserved rounded
towers, built in 1481 to strengthen the already existing
fortifications. At the south end is the Rocca, an imposing
squared castle with a massive stone tower. Over the years
this building has been altered innumerable times and
nowadays its original aspect is almost invisible. Today the
Rocca serves as the Town Hall and is thus the most important
civil building in Casole and dominates the second Piazza of
Casole - Piazza della Libertà.
Dominating the
main Piazza della Libertà, is Casole's most important
religious building, the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria
Assunta, which has also been altered many times over the
centuries. The Church was consecrated in 1161 and of this
original primitive construction there remains the base of
the 3 apses in the crypt under the actual level of the
pavement. It would seem that the bases and capitals of the
pillars, which divided the Church into 3 naves, were removed
when the Church was reconstructed and were reused in the
splendid Church of San Niccolò not far away. Flanking the
Church on the right is the Clergy house, which contains the
Cloisters, also much altered.
San Gimignano rises on a hill (334 m), dominating the
Elsa valley with its towers. Seat of a small Etruscan
village of the Hellenistic period (the 3rd and the 2nd
century B.C.), its history started around the 10th century
and the town takes its name from St. Gimignano, Bishop of
Modena, who is said to have saved the village from hordes of
barbarians. It developed greatly during the Middle Ages
thanks to the "Via Francigena" a route that crossed it. Such
development led to the flourishing of works of art that
adorned the churches and monasteries. In 1199 it became a
free Municipality, fighting against the Bishops of Volterra
and against the surrounding municipalities. It suffered from
internal struggles dividing itself into two factions headed
by the Ardinghelli family (Guelphs) and the Salvucci family
(Ghibellines). On 8th May 1300, Dante Alighieri came to San
Gimignano as the Ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany.
The terrible Black Death in 1348 and the following
depopulation of San Gimignano led to a serious crisis and
therefore it was forced to submit to Florence. San Gimignano
managed to overcome its degradation and isolation in the
following centuries when its beauty and cultural importance
together with its original agricultural identity, were
rediscovered.
Siena is a pretty town with about 57,000 inhabitants
located in the centre of Italy, in the heart of Tuscany.
It is a lovely hilltop place founded by the Etruscans, where
old buildings and precious works of art bear witness the
magnificence and prosperity of Siena in the past centuries.
Piazza del
Campo (Campo square) is the heart of the town. Montaigne
praised it as "the most beautiful square of all the cities"
as far back as 1580 and at the beginning of this century
Henry James remembered that, assisted by the moonshine, he
had "half-an-hour's infinite vision of medieval Italy".
The "Palazzo Pubblico" (Town Hall) and the "Torre del
Mangia" (Mangia Tower) which overhang the square are the
utmost proofs of municipal pride which in the Middle Ages
exalted the life of the municipality of Siena. The Palazzo
Pubblico was built at the end of the 13th century and it
witnesses the growing need for bigger magisterial buildings
for the ruling aristocracy. It was decorated by the artists
of the Sienese school which was rapidly becoming famous
throughout the whole of Italy and abroad.
The cathedral, completed at the end of XIV century, "the
most beautiful monument of gothic magnificence" (E. Gibbon,
1764), "a work of goldsmithery in stone" (H. James), and the
Pinacoteca Nazionale (National Art Gallery), where a
collection of masterpieces by the greatest artists of Senese
painting (such as Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio
Lorenzetti) can be admired, are other important places.
Siena
is the seat of one of the oldest Universities in Europe,
founded in 1240, and of one of the oldest banks, the "Monte
dei Paschi", founded in 1624.
Monteriggioni is positioned just 15 km to the north
east of Siena and is a perfect example of a hilltop medieval
town. It is surrounded by high walls with 14
fortified towers. Dante, used Monteriggioni as a
simile for the deepest abyss at the heart of his inferno.
Inside the walls, the town itself is quite small consisting
of a central square and a Romanesque church.
West of the
town is the Abbadia dell'Isola which contains
frescoes by Taddeo di Bartolo and Vincenzo Tamagni.
The “magic and mysterious” city of Volterra has its
roots in three thousand years of history. It is possible to
find evidence and traces from every historical period which
gives the artistic city a unique aspect.
The ancient city walls, the imposing Porta all’Arco,
the Necropolis of Marmini and the numerous archeological
finds conserved in the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci like the
Ombra della Sera with its unique profile, the funeral urns
and the finely crafted jewelry, bear testimony of the
Etruscan period.
The Theatre of Vallebona survives from the period of
Augustus and suggests the importance of Volterra under Roman
domination.
Today the city
conserves above all a Medieval aspect not only for the 12th
century city walls but also because of the urban layout with
narrow streets, palaces, tower houses and churches.
The Renaissance had an important influence on Volterra but
without changing the city’s Medieval character.
From this period are the superb palaces of Minucci Solaini,
Incontri-Viti and Inghirami, which are built into the
Medieval city, the imposing Fortezza Medicea and the Convent
of San Girolamo. |
