Montemerano

The medieval hamlet of Montemerano was commissioned during the XIII century by the Aldobrandeschi family on the highest part of the hill, surrounded by the countryside, along the road that from Manciano leads to Saturnia. The square of the castle is very scenic and perfectly intact in its medieval attitude and the houses made of stone. Its threshold is constituted by an arch which opens at the end of a short and steep slope. Also beautiful is the Church of San Giorgio, a jewel of Romanesque art which preserves an exceptional collection of artworks of the Renaissance. In the interior of the Church the famous "Madonna della Gattaiola" is exposed, painted around 1450 by an artist from the school of Sassetta, nicknamed Master of Montemerano.

The work has got a hole at the bottom and the legend tells that it was made by a parish priest who, by using the table as a door of a warehouse where it was stored food in abundance, contributed the hole to allow the cat to pass, a true controller and bitter enemy of the mice. We advise you not to miss the taste of one of the most typical dishes of the place: the tripe of Montemerano. Its particularity is that is flavored with a mix of nutmeg, corn, cinnamon, cloves and fresh thyme, and served with zolfini beans, or with tomatoes.

BY CAR

• From the North: From the A1 highway, exit at Firenze Certosa, take the Firenze - Siena highway towards Grosseto, take the SS 1 Aurelia highway towards Rome, in Albinia continue on the SS 74 as far as Manciano.
• From the South: In Rome take the A12 motorway in the direction of Civitavecchia, take the SS 1 Aurelia highway in the direction of Grosseto, take the SP 67 in the direction of Manciano.

ON THE TRAIN

• Albinia railway station

BY PLANE

• Rome Fiumicino Airport
• Pisa airport
• Florence airport

Medieval village in Etruscan land, Montemerano preserves from its characteristic plant shaped like a heart the imprint of human place par excellence where the contacts are spontaneous and immediate. The historic center is still today enclosed between three belt of walls, to the supreme a hill-garden inhabited by olive trees and cypresses. The village is small - not more than six hundred inhabitants, including those in the few houses that surround it from postwar period and in the surrounding farms - but deserves that you take some the time to get to know it. Starting from Piazza del Castello, enchanted scenery made of light and stone, jewel of spontaneous architecture, uninterrupted sequence of stone buildings with loggias with arches, terraces and flowered windows, roofs at different levels that create a play of lines and volumes of natural, extreme elegance. On the right of the square that looks like a postcard or a film set and that, on the contrary, is all authentic, stretches the "Palazzo", noble building surmounted by a quadrangular tower of the Cassero Senese. The village is inhabited, is not a museum: over the last thirty years has been completely restored, but it was not "made as good as new" according to the taste even too widespread - and often led - of "that good old time", like a script for an advertisement of jams and tarts. People live there and they live well, Montemeranesi of birth and "foreigners" that have chosen to stay here: they work during the day and in the evening they meet for the aperitif or for dinner, between a chat and a glass of Morellino, a dish of Tortelli with wild boar ragout and a tasty ciaffagnone with pecorino cheese and honey (for the recipe turn to the village ladies).

Discover the other villages on the guide Tuscany - Unique Villages to Love