Volpaia

Volpaia History

Volpaia was recorded for the first time in 1172 in a document from the Abbey of San Lorenzo a Coltibuono as the "Curte et Castello di Vulpaia". The original defense walls, laid with great precision using local pietra serena (a greenish-grey sandstone), date back to the end of the 12 C and beginning of the 13 C. It was not until the first half of the 14 C, however, when the castle became one of the main centres of the Lega del Chianti, the Chianti League, in the Radda in Chianti area, that it assumed a role of any real importance. Because of its favourable and dominating position, it was soon equipped with a true surrounding wall in the form of a rough ellipse, with the defense towers rising up in a quadrangular arrangement. Today, only a part of this wall and a small, later tower to the north are still visible. There is no trace of the gate which probably corresponded in the defense wall with the street dividing the village into two parts. Only gradually - especially around 1500 to 1600 - did the castle lose its purely defensive function, new gates then being constructed. The parish church, dedicated to San Lorenzo since the 14 C, has a hexangular arch. Upon orders of the Lord of the castle, the Commenda di San Eufrosino was established in 1443 outside the gate of the ancient castle, in order to shelter and provide care for pilgrims and wayfarers. The site of the hospice is indicated by a Maltese cross carved under an architrave. The building shows characteristics of the early Florentine Renaissance such as the simple rectangular structure and the contrast between the gray of the pietra serena used for the ornamental elements and the white of the walls. There were very few buildings outside the surrounding wall and those few were all mentioned for the first time only at the end of the 16 C.