ARGENTARIO E VOLTERRA

Volterra
Perched on a hill, at 545 meters above sea level, Volterra dominates and divides Val di Cecina and Val d'Era. Its isolated position, far from the sea and the main urban settlements, has favored the growth of its strategic importance over the centuries. Rich in history and culture, Volterra still preserves buildings that tell its story. Its buildings in gray stone, the walls, the palaces of the center, the magnificent Piazza dei Priori, are still evidence of the ancient splendor. The first human settlements in the area date back to the Neolithic, but it is only in the seventh century. to. C., with the first Etruscan settlements, which we can speak of inhabited. Velatri, so it was called at that time, was one of the main centers of Etruscan civilization, with a population estimated at around 25,000 units, many, if you think that at today there are about 11000. The city, enclosed within its walls, despite having been conquered several times managed to maintain a certain independence until the III century BC, when it was conquered by Rome, signs of that period remain to Volterra in the Acropolis and in the Roman Theater. Eruli followed, Goths and Lombards who ruled it until the eighth century. However, it was in the 1200s that Volterra took on the features of the city, with the establishment of a municipal structure and the construction of the monuments that still today are its characteristic: the new city walls, the Palazzo del Popolo, the Duomo, the Baptistery, and so on. In 1400, Lorenzo il Magnifico, to give a tangible sign of his presence in the city, enlarged the Rocca Vecchia and built the Rocca Nuova; however Volterra was going through a period of decline that lasted until 1700, when a new political order gave a new impetus to the development of the city's economy. The city of Volterra is enclosed in the ancient walls, it is possible to distinguish the Etruscan walls from the medieval ones dating back to the XIII century. There are four gateways to the historical center of the city: Porta Selci and Porta dell'Arco, from the Etruscan period, Porta San Francesco and Porta Fiorentina, from the Middle Ages. Inside the walls there is almost intact the ancient village that develops around the two main squares: Piazza dei Priori and the adjacent Piazza San Giovanni, the first, the center of political life, the second fulcrum of the religious one. The Piazza dei Priori, dating back to the early 1200s, represents the medieval heart of the city; it is delimited by Palazzo dei Prori, one of the oldest municipal buildings in Tuscany, probably dating back to 1208; on the façade of the building there are the coats of arms representing the families of the priors who inhabited it. A pentagonal tower, added after 1846, contributes to giving an austere appearance to the building. Another building in the square is the Palazzo Pretorio, also from the thirteenth century as the Palazzo dei Priori is protected by the Torre Merlata dei Podestà, on top of which is placed the sculpture depicting a small boar and therefore is called 'Torre del Porcellino'. In the adjacent Piazza San Giovanni is the Cathedral, whose structure is 'engaged' in the back of the Palazzo dei Priori. Built in the twelfth century, in Romanesque style, it has a façade decorated with a central rose window and crowned by a tympanum. Inside, among the many works of considerable interest we have the fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli in the oratory of the Virgin, which is the background of the fifteenth-century crib, the table depicting the Immaculate Conception, the Eternal Father and Stories of the Virgin of Nicolò Cercignani. Opposite the Cathedral is the Baptistery, whose front is covered with white and green marble bands and a Romanesque portal, inside works by Renaissance artists including Andrea Sansovino. On the highest point of the Volterrano hill is the fortification of the city, consisting of two buildings, the Rocca Vecchia, dating back to 1343 and characterized by a semi-elliptical tower, called the 'Femmina', and the Rocca Nuova, built by Lorenzo dè Medici , consisting of a square-shaped fortification on which stands a taller tower called the 'Mastio'. The two fortifications are connected by a Cammino di Ronda.

Colle Val D'Elsa
Colle Val d'Elsa is located north of the province of Siena, along the road that connects the provincial capital to Florence. The village is divided into the old village, called Colle Alta, and the new part, Colle Bassa. It has always been the theater of war between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, only in 1500 it finds its dimension as a new diocese and with the economic explosion of the iron and glass industry. The upper part is the oldest one, the first collective living area, half tourists on holiday in Tuscany, which can be accessed from Porta Nuova and via della Rimembranza where there are parking spaces. The lower part, with the central Piazza Arnolfo is the headquarters of the production activities. The crystal industry, a direct descendant of glass and iron, decreed the economic explosion of the city in the sixteenth century. Already in the nineteenth century it was called the Bohemia of Italy and today Colle Val d'Elsa is known worldwide as the City of Crystal, boasting 15% of all the world's crystal production and over 95% of the Italian one. Colle also obtained the name of Città del Bio (a brand promoted by AIAB - Italian Association for Organic Agriculture) for the support and development of important projects for the environment, organic agriculture and sustainability. of artistic sight the Colligiana theater season stands out, with two very active theaters and with noteworthy appointments.