Borgo della Meliana

Spending a holiday at Borgo della Meliana means breathing in the history of the place and the landscape.

Borgo della Meliana is one of the very few farm complexes in the area to be "listed" by the Artist and Cultural Heritage Council and therefore the restructuring and restoration work was carried out with maximum respect to the original historic building.

Nevertheless, there are all the mod-cons such as heating and air conditioning in all the rooms, satellite TV, Fast Internet, common laundry room, swimming pool, jacuzzi and solarium.

Next to the main building, which has undergone various changes and extensions over the centuries, there are two other buildings once used as cellars, sheds and a granary.

The whole complex hosts eleven large apartments and small villas each with two or three bedrooms, an outdoor loggia area and own private garden, as well as the wide common garden area, the oven area, swimming pool, and rooms for breakfast.

Spending a holiday at Borgo della Meliana means breathing in the history of the place and the landscape; it is thought that the original core was already present in 1200 on the Via Francigena, the route of the Pilgrims, the most ancient hilltop route between the Val d'Egola and the Val d'Elsa which connects the ancient parish church of San Pietro e Paolo in Coiano and the parish church of Santa Maria in Chianni located in Gambassi mentioned by Sigerio, the Archibishop of Canterbury, in the diary of his pilgrimage to Rome in 994.

Bearing witness to an ancient settlement in the area of Borgo della Meliana are the toponyms "San Michele" and "San Michelino", today the names of two neighbouring farm-houses, which suggest that there may have previously been a church here, the same that is mentioned in archive documents of 1211 and which still existed in 1500 as found on the Guelph Captains' maps of the territory of the Castle of Gambassi.

Gambassi which was a glass-producing centre even before Murano, preserves many memories of the past which are immersed in an extraordinarily beautiful landscape and which can be explored along the many suggestive routes of the area.

Going through these lands, like the pilgrims of times past, in a short time the modern traveller can reach the towns of San Gimignano, Siena, Florence, Pisa, Arezzo and Lucca, well known for their artistic treasures where one is immersed in an atmosphere rich in history and culture.

Situated in the heart of Tuscany, in the centre of the triangle formed by the towns of FLORENCE - SIENA - PISA, on average 30/40 kilometres away, Borgo della Meliana is extremely close to ancient villages and medieval and Etruscan towns such as:

• SAN GIMIGNANO (18km)
• CERTALDO (10km)
• VOLTERRA (28km).

You get here by going along the main road that links Florence and Volterra (Via Volterrana), and then Via della Meliana (about 1 km) which follows the old route of the Via Francigena.