The Villa Chigi Saracini was designed in the early 19 C by its owner, Galgano Saracini, and stands at the entrance to the Castelnuovo Berardenga. Its construction led to a radical alteration of the urban layout of Castelnuovo Berardenga, with the demolition of the enceinte around the castle and its replacement by a retaining wall. The building is rectangular in plan and spreads over three floors, the lower portion being rusticated and the upper floors finished in plaster. The main elevations have two rounded-arch doorways, flanked by double pilaster strips terminating in corbels that support the balconies above. There is a crest on the front and the rear of the building: the one on the side facing north is that of the Chigi Della Rovere, the one on the south side is that of the Saracini Marescotti.

Visitors travelling from Florence to Volterra, or to Monteriggioni and Sienna, via Poggibonsi often overlook Colle di Val d'Elsa because they pass only the modern part of the town. In fact, Colle di Val d'Elsa has a small but attractive old town with two important provincial museums, the Museum of Civic and Religious Art and the Archaeological Museum, as well as quite a good Museum of Lead-Crystal Glass.
The city celebrates itself as the city of Arnolfo and the surrounding territory as Terre di Arnolfo - Arnolfo di Cambio is a celebrated 13th centurt sculptor and architect.

Colle di Van d'Elsa is centuries old but also has a solid 20th century workers’ tradition. Industrial activity is expressed in a highly selective and civilised way, in continuity with the craft tradition: the paper mills and glassworks, founded in the middle ages, are proof of this.
Colle Val d’Elsa is divided in two. The lower part is 20th century while the upper, mediaeval part speaks of traditions connected with the land. Its many towers, largely cut down and transformed into aristocratic residences during the Renaissance, speak of this courtly spirit which even today seems to keep a desired distance from the confused movements of our time.

Casole d'Elsa is a little idyllic hilltop town with the most beautiful country side surrounding it. The area counts 3.000 inhabitants called Casolesi. Casole d'Elsa is an extensive Commune and is placed close to the source of the river Elsa. For this reason the area was highly populated back in Etruscan times, and several remnants can be found in the area.
Casole has always been under the influence of the big cities, first by Volterra that back in the middle ages became a bishop ship, then followed a short time of independence where Casole had its own town administration (the town hall building testifies to this). Finally, after 1260 the town fell in the hands of Siena.
Today the town appears particularly well kept and, in fact, the town administration often organizes cultural events such as art shows.
The town lives off of tourism which has increased a lot in the last few years and off of agriculture. Lately the area has been given its own DOC for winemaking.

Abbazia di Conéo, Badia a Coneo near Campiglia, is a Romanesque structure that was founded by the Vallombrosan monks at the start of the 12 C and is one of the most interesting examples of religious architecture near Colle Val d'Elsa. Its plan is in the shape of the Latin cross, as is typical of Vallombrosan churches, and the intersection of the nave and the transept is surmounted by a sectioned dome, which is octagonal inside. The internal capitals and the cornice which runs round the outside of the building are decorated with starred flowers and other geometrical devices, of great artistic beauty. The building possesses a number of pre-Romanesque features, with numerous external brackets in the shape of imaginary animals.
Here one can join the historic Via Francigena.

San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town and is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers.
While in other cities, such as Bologna or Florence, most or all of their towers have been brought down due to wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal, San Gimignano has managed to conserve fourteen towers of varying height which have become its international symbol.
The heart of the town contains the four squares, Piazza della Cisterna, Piazza Duomo where the Collegiata church is located, Piazza Pecori, and Piazza delle Erbe. The main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south.
There are many churches in the town: the two main ones are the Collegiata, formerly a cathedral, and Sant'Agostino, housing a wide representation of artworks from some of the main Italian renaissance artists.
The Communal Palace, once seat of the podestà, is currently home of the Town Gallery, with works by Pinturicchio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Filippino Lippi, Domenico di Michelino, Pier Francesco Fiorentino, and others.

The little Romanesque Pieve di Sant'Appiano has XV and XVI-century frescoes. On the lawn in front of it are four pillars, testimonials of the ancient baptistery built there by early Christians and torn down in 1805. Adjacent to the entrance to the rectory is the little archaeological museum that preserves some finds from the area.
The Antiquarium of Sant’Appiano is a small archaeological museum located in rooms adjoining the Pieve di Sant’Appiano just a few km from Barberino Val d’Elsa. It houses some of the material found during archaeological digs in the surrounding area following the first accidental discoveries at the beginning of the 20 C.