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Abbazia di Sant' Antimo
     
   

Abbazia di Sant' Antimo, interior

 
   

Abbazia di Sant' Antimo | History

The Abbey of Sant'Antimo, one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in Italy, is located only 9 km from Montalcino.
According to tradition, in 781 Charlemagne was returning from Rome along the Via Francigena. While camped near Monte Amiata, many in his court and army were struck down by plague. During the night, an angel appeared to the Emperor in dream and recommended that he pick a particular grass, dry it and then make an infusion with some wine and have it drunk by the soldiers. He did this and the army was cured. The grass is known to this day as "Carolina". In return for an end to this scourge, the Emperor promised to found the abbey.
According to historians, the foundation goes further back, to the Longobards and the Monastery of St. Savior (Salvatoris) at Monte Amiata. It is possible that the Abbey of Sant'Antimo was constructed on the site of a Roman villa and it is known with certainty that in the 4th and 5th centuries the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate, on the hills nearby, was an important inhabited centre, endowed with a parish.
The monastery of Sant'Antimo was in existence in the year 814, as indicated by a document from one Ludovico the Pious that endows the abbey with gifts and privileges. In the 9 C, the abbey faced financial difficulty, to the point that in the 877 Charles II, "the Bald", entrusted it to the Bishop of Arezzo, with the obligation to maintain 40 monks there at his own expense. From the 10 C, the abbot of the monastery was also the Count Palatino, a public position of great importance conferred by the Emperor.
In 992, according to a deed emanating from Pope John XV (985-996), the monastery passed into the direct jurisdiction of the Apostolic See. The year 1118 saw the beginning of the golden years of Sant'Antimo. Count Bernard degli Ardengheschi surrendered his entire patrimony in goods and property, including the Abbey, "in toto I reign Italic et in tota Tuscie marks" to Hildebrand, son of Rustic. A testimony to this exceptional donation was engraved on the steps of the altar as a perpetual memorial of the event. The Abbot Guidone (1108-1128), who received the donation, immediately initiated the great era of the construction of the new church, the Abbey of Sant'Antimo. The apse of the original 9th century abbey still stands alongside, and is dwarfed by, the new 12 C. The Abbey became the most powerful monastic landowner and foundation in Tuscany, via its imperial connections and gifts from those travelling the nearby Via Francigena, the pilgrims' route to Rome. At its height, the Abbey owned large tracts of eastern Tuscany from Lucca in the north to Orbetello in the south.

The great years lasted up until the fall of Montalcino, on 12th June 1212, to the Siennese who forced the abbey to sign a treaty surrendering a quarter of the territory of Montalcino in Siena. The abbey then began its slow decline. Entrusted to the Guglelmiti by Pope Nicholas IV (1288-1292) in a deed dated 23rd August 1291, a brief recovery occurred in the period from between 1397 and 1404 up to the suppression of the abbey in 1462 by Pope Pius II "Piccolomini" (1458-1464) who entrusted it to the bishop of the newborn diocese of Montalcino and Pienza, created on 13th August of the same year.

In 1866, the Italian government decreed the general suppression of the religious orders. The monastic community was transferred to Pescia, where it remained up to 1949. It was only in 1961 that it could re-enter in the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, whose ownership has remained nevertheless with the State. After the transfer of the abbey to the ownership of the new Italian state in 1867, a long period of physical restoration began that ultimately saved the whole building. The restoration was initiated in 1872 and finished in 1895, bringing the church to its current appearance. In 1992 religious activity was reinitiated thanks to the arrival of the Regular Canons Premonstratensi.

No description or pictures can do more that provide a pale reflection of charm of this place. The façade, which remains incomplete, houses a portal, probably one of a pair planned originally, surmounted by a lintel datable to the first half the 12 C, together with capitals, friezes and ferrules. The element that confers a French imprint on this church more than any other is the basilical ground plan, an ambulatory with radial chapels, unique in Tuscany and among the few present in Italy. In the morning, the sun plays on the ambulatory stonework which is the most precious among all those used for the church: alabaster plus travertine from which the capitals and columns are carved. The impact of the light streaming in is accentuated by the nave floor which slopes slightly upwards towards the focus of the dramatic 13 C Crucifix standing behind the altar.
The church is long at 44 m, and is guarded at the entry by two stylised lions, probably destined for the external portal, datable to the 12 C and attributed to the Master of Cabestany, as is the splendid capital with the scenes of "Daniel in the lions' den." The refined geometrical and leaf motifs, precise in outline and cleanly carved, indicate an origin in Auvergne.
Other capitals located in the ambulatory exhibit a Lombard character suggesting that Sant'Antimo was the work of two masters, or a Lombard who had worked in Auvergne.
To the right of the larger church, set at the beginning of the ambulatory, there is a Carolingian chapel of the 8 C or 9 C, a small building with a single rectangular aisle and a semicircular apse. Outside on the left, the imposing bell tower rise to around 30 m, divided into four orders, decorated in Lombard style with a with a hint of Pisan taste in the columns at the angles of the base. The bell tower houses two bells, one of which is engraved with Abbot Ugo's name (1216-1222) and the date 1219.
 
   
Road from Abbazzia Sant' Antimo to Montalcino
 
   
The Maremma spreads in southern Tuscany. It is a still wild region where ancient traditions survive in pure nature. To sea lovers, the Maremma offers kilometres of sandy beaches, small bights and crystalline sea where to scuba dive at the discovery of the animals and plants living in this corner of paradise.
The Maremma is not only synonym with beach and sea: the Maremma is also art, history and culture, with the Etruscan cities of Populonia, Vetulonia and Roselle and its numerous hamlets and castles; the Maremma is also health and well-being, with the spas in Saturnia; and to mountain lovers, the Maremma offers the possibility of hiking on the mount Amiata.

Tuscany is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Known for its enchanting landscapes, its fantastic and genuine food and beautiful towns as Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Siena.
Podere Santa Pia is an enchanting Tuscan farmhouse, nestled in the vineyards and olive groves of the rolling Maremma hills. This privileged location offers a spectacular vista over the charming medieval town of Cinigiano and the entire Ombrone Valley. It is the perfect place for your relaxing holiday with your friends and family. The property consists of 4 large bedrooms furnished in a classic Tuscan style and 2 bathroom with shower, a big full-equipment kitchen with a fireplace and a big living room and dining room. With its original kitchen and the wood burning pizza oven, Podere Santa Pia offers an upbeat atmosphere. The farmhouse has been renovated and provided with all modern comforts (satellite TV, Wi-Fi Internet access, washing machine, dishwasher, and so on), with an eye to preserve the typical and charming elements of these rural lodgings. There you have, then, cosy and warm rooms with traditional terracotta-tiled floors, stone walls and wood-beamed ceilings. And the kitchen, furnished for pleasant meals with traditional Tuscan dishes (bread soup or "ribollita", tomato soup, "fettunta", Florentine-style steak, stewed wild boar, cinta senese cured meat, and other Tuscan specialities).
The impressive garden (9000 square mt.) allows you to enjoy a relaxing holiday and is perfect for taking time out and lounging about while sipping on a glass of local wines, Montecucco DOC and Brunello DOC.
Sitting in the garden, one can enjoy our dawns and dusks, with their jubilee of colours ranging from dark yellow to pink, orange and red. In this scenario, it is often possible to observe the flight of pheasants, falcons and buzzards, great tits, chaffinches and sparrows.
This is an enchanting place far from noise, ideal to regenerate body and mind, where one has the opportunity enjoy pleasant walks or rides on mountain bike. The summer breeze that caresses Podere Santa Pia guarantees "cool" holidays even in the hottest weather.

Tuscan farmhouses | Podere Santa Pia
 
         

Monte Oliveto Maggiore abbey

Abbey of Sant 'Antimo

Montalcino
         

Banfi, Castello di Poggio alle Mura,
view from Podere Santa Pia

Castello Colle Massari,
view from Podere Santa Pia

Castel Porrona, a charming medieval village dating back to the 11th century, between Cinigiano and Castiglioncello Bandini and Podere Santa Pia
         
Brunello di Montalcino DOC

Brunello di Montalcino made its appearance in the middle of the 19 C, prepared by Clement Santi from a selection of Sangiovese Grosso grapes, the larger-berried clone of the Sangiovese variety. In Sienna in 1870, the first bottles of vintages 1863 and 1865 were exhibited as a superior ageing wine. Although the first great official vintage of Brunello di Montalcino dates back to 1888, until the mid-60s it was not well-known outside of its area of production. It began to be famous during the following ten years and became one of the most highly-rated Italian high quality wines. Over the years Brunello di Montalcino has gradually acquired greater fragrance, a more velvety flavour, a greater harmony and a delicately and intense bouquet. Today this dry wine is one of the best Italian reds. It's a strong, structured and tannic wine and it has got a very long life.
The Biondi-Santi family remained the only producer of Brunello until after World War II and the estate only released the wine on rare occasions in the greatest vintages. Between 1888 and 1945, only four vintage declarations qualified. As recently as 1960, less than a dozen estates bottled Brunello di Montalcino but today there are 220 growers and over 150 bottlers (up from 100 in the late 1980s). The Consorzio of Brunello producers, incorporating virtually all of the winemaking estates, was established in 1967, just after Italian authorities declared Brunello one of the country's first DOC classified wines in 1966. This group plays a vital role in helping establish and administer production codes (by a decree passed in 2001, it actually controls production protocols for the zone down to the most basic details) as well as leading in the marketing and promotion of Brunello abroad. Unlike the consorzio in the neighboring Chianti Classico region, the group in Montalcino enjoys almost unanimous participation among the region's producers and has been quite effective in helping develop Brunello's reputation as a unique "brand."
The "second wine" of the zone is Rosso di Montalcino and this generally sells for a modest price considering its high quality. One of the DOCG regulations which is strictly enforced entails "de-classification" of at least 30% of the production each vintage from Brunello, with its longer aging requirements, to earlier maturing Rosso, which is a DOC that must age for only a year prior to release. Because of the mandatory "de-classification", Rossos from a great house are often spectacular in a great vintage, and they can be extremely good in lesser years (when the house makes little if any Brunello, and uses its best grapes for Rosso production).

Wines in Tuscany | Brunello di Montalcino

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