 |
Arranged
on three degrading levels (Borgo, Castello and Piano) Colle Val d'Elsa,
a flourishing city during the medieval age and Episcopal city in 1952,
offers medieval sites and others rarities from the Renaissance.
From the
imposing Porta Nuova we gain access to the Borgo, with its beautiful noble
palaces from the 16th and 17th century, to then proceed towards Colle
Alta, where stand the old Castello di Piticciano, centre of civic and
religious power. Below it there is Colle Bassa (also said the plan), with
the ancient quarter Spugna, an active manufacturing site which made use
of the energy obtained from the water of the river Elsa (the conduits
are from the 1000), to produce wool, paper and glass.
Still nowadays
the city is a vibrant industrial centre, famous world-wide for the production
of valuable hand-crafted crystals. It is worth visiting the church of
S. Agostino, situated by the piazza Arnolfo di Cambio, with its unfinished
facade from the 13th century and paintings from Taddeo di Bartolo, Ridolfo
del Ghirlandaio and Alessandro Allori. Through an arch in the Campana
Palace, designed by Giuliano Baccio d'Agnolo in 1539, we enter the higher
part of the city, definitely the most beautiful.
Along the
main road we come across the tower-house that belonged to Arnolfo di Cambio,
architect and sculptor from Colle, the 13th century Palazzo dei Priori,
now the location of the Civic Museum and of the Museum of Sacred Art,
the contemporaneous Town Hall, together with the Archaeological Museum
and, lastly, the baroque Duomo.
|
|
 |
