The entire province of Siena is an immense depository of historical remains, unique in its level of preservation and for the enjoyment it offers. The castles and the parish churches are evidence of the great development initiated after the year 1000, and even today whoever so wishes can make a pilgrimage back in time. S Galgano

MONTERIGGIONI
“però che, come in su la cerchia tonda
Monteriggioni di torri si corona,
così la proda che 'l pozzo circonda
torre già van di mezza la persona
li orribili giganti, cui minaccia
Giove del cielo ancora quando tona”

With these words, Dante conjured images of Monterigione in order to describe his vision of the depths of hell, but today Monteriggione is a romantic and fascinating place. It no longer strikes fear into the hearts of onlookers, as its builders during the 13th century had wished it to do, in an attempt to keep the powerful neighbors of the Republic of Florence at a safe distance from Siena. Today, the encircling walls are a symbol of its former power and present charm. With our help, the visitor will uncover the legends and panoramas, the flavors and aromas that these walls encompass.

SAN GALGANO
A stone giant in the middle of a meadow, an abbey from the 1200s, perfectly in keeping with the architecture of the Cistercians, and dedicated to a hermit, a Medieval knight who, still young and strong, planted his very sword in a rock to make it into a cross, and then dedicated himself to God. The sword in the stone is found inside the Sanctuary of Monte Siepe, an incredible example of Romanesque-Pisan architecture located in the land of Siena, where in the 1300s Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted frescoes of incredibly modernity. Right at the foot of a small hill, the ancient site of the hermitage of San Galgano, the Cistercian monks built a beautiful abbey in the beginning of the 13th century. By the 1500s, they had already abandoned it. Today it lacks even a roof. Driven by cupidity, a parish curate sold the lead covering of the roof in the 1700s for the money it provided. The abbey also lacks a bell tower, which crumbled in the same century in which the roof was sold.     
This Cistercian abbey is a prime example of Italian Gothic church architecture.
Its columns, its surviving vaults, and its great mullioned side windows are the evidence of a historical architectural trend that changed the face of Siena, for it was the monks of San Galgano who functioned as the architects, administrators and tax collectors of the Republic and of the Works of the Cathedral in the 1200s.

ABBADIA SAN SALVATORE AND MOUNT AMIATA
Mount Amiata is the only true Tuscan mountain that does not belong to the Apennines. It is, in fact, a extinct vulcano, and its ashes and lava gave form and color to the surrounding area. Rising to a height of 1748 m, Mount Amiata offers great variety, from chestnut trees to fir trees, from areas that are rocky to those that are lush and fertile. San Salvatore Abbey is the main center on the mountain and its name immediately betrays its origins, the very ancient Abbey of the Longobard Era (the foundation dates back to the year 743). The stupendous crypt is part of the original church structure and dates back to the Romanesque period. The two side bell towers are feature common to churches of Northern Europe. The historical center of town, with its characteristic volcanic gray stone, still possesses a fascination for ancient life here, never easy, for those who live off the things the forest produces, chestnuts and mushrooms gathered from the forest floor, and mercury extracted from beneath it.     
The abbey is an excellent place to find the gastronomic delights of the Mount that dominates Southern Tuscany.

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