VILLA GALGANO

Descriptiom
When you rent this wonderful house, you should, as a matter of course, know that there is a very special and ancient, round church situated next to it, to which age-old historical legends are connected. Cistercian monks started the building of the church and abbey of San Galgano around 1185 and now, the abbey is no more than a ruin (albeit a beautiful one, worth while a visit) but the splendid, round chapel with a spiralled ceiling is still standing and illuminated in the evenings, like a fairy-tale building. Within this church-chapel, there is a lovely little shop where you can buy, of course, the necessary postal cards and the like, but also very special bottles of grappa with twigs of herbs inside, as well as honey’s, jams and herbal teas.

But for now, back to Saint Galgano “himself”. Galgano Guidotti, born in 1148, was the son of a noble family. He seemed to have been the kind of son nobody could really love; arrogant, wild, never wanting to listen to reason etc. He did have quite a lot of friends and a very beautiful fiancée but that he was good-for-nothing, as everybody agreed upon. Till, one day, he was visited by the archangel Michael, who told him that he was leading a very wasteful life and that he should change his tune. The archangel, in first instance, seemed to have been able to convince him because the very next day he gave out that he was going to leave his sinful life behind him and devote himself to a hermit’s existence and already found a cave to live in. Nobody will be surprised to learn that his family and friends thought he had gone nuts. His mother begged him to at least tell his fiancée about this new change of events. And being, after all, a proper Italian son, he complied. He dressed up for the occasion and drove off on his horse. But the horse threw him off and fell, and he got carried upwards by a host of angels to the Monte Siepi, a rough mountaintop close to Chiusdino. A heavenly voice commanded him to climb the hill, find his cave and say farewell to all earthly pleasures.

Galgano was very much impressed – who wouldn’t be – but not altogether convinced as yet. Saying farewell to all earthly pleasures sounded so right, he said, but up till now he had never denied himself any of those pleasures, and to give it all up would be as impossible as if his sword could all of a sudden split rocks. He unshielded his weapon, pointed it to a rock and struck, thinking the steel would splinter. But on the contrary; the sword glided, as if through a packet of butter, through the stone up to the hilt. Then, Galgago gave up his struggles and never left the hillside anymore. He lived in poverty, but many locals came to him for advice and blessing and all the wild animals were his companions.

Both humans and animals took care that he always had enough food and drink and once, when the devil sent an accomplice to try and kill him, the wild wolves saw through this evil one, killed him and gnawed his bones to splinters. The stone with the hole still exists in the church.

Next to the church is this historical villa, amidst the rural greens, situated on a hilltop between the church of Montesiepi and the San Galgano Abbey. The house has been built at roughly the same time as the church, firstly for religious purposes. The owners had it completely restored, but strived to keep the original structure intact whilst seeing to it that modern comforts could be included. All has been realised in the best possible taste, in accordance with the rural, Tuscan style and nowhere out of style. The monumental entrée with a double staircase leads to a terrace, from where you enjoy indescribably lovely views, whilst in the evening you will feel part of the fairytale illumination of the abbey close-by. During the summer-months, sometimes concerts are given here.

There is a simple swimming pool in the garden. Infortunately, because this is such a special location, bureaucracy has as yet not granted the owners the permit for the building of a pool which would be more integrated. The beautiful, large garden with many enormous terra cotta pots with shrubs and palm trees, is completely fenced and a bit sloping. On the side of the house there is a small terrace, which is not much in use. The reason for this is that the afore mentioned church borders on this side, so that visitors could see you sitting there, even though they cannot enter the garden. At the back, close to the pool, your privacy is guaranteed completely.

The house has two stores (in fact, 2 and an in-between store), is furnished in rural Tuscan style with antiques. You have the disposal of two living rooms, two completely equipped kitchens, 5 bedrooms and a cosy, separate apartment with an independent entrance on the left side of the house with a small kitchen corner/living, a double bedroom and a bathroom with shower. Along the front side of the house there is a closed portico, which dates from the 13th century when the monks lived there and has been kept intact, with a well and oven where the monks baked their daily bread. Both well and oven still function perfectly.
All this, combined with the warm hospitality of the owners, makes this house a perfect holiday accommodation for all those wanting something special and out of the ordinary.
Parking is no problem; there is a private parking for the guests of the house.

As already said: The round church next/behind the house is famous all over Italy and therefore, tourists come to visit. Moreover, as you can well imagine, it is quite popular for wedding ceremonies. We think and hope that those who want to rent this so very special house will appreciate the religious and historical backgrounds and are therefore convinced that they will want to adapt themselves to these surroundings by not blasting away with the cd-players during Mass hours, on Sundays from 11.00-11.30 and from 12.00-12.30 hrs. And in this respect, we only think of music to be played outside; inside the house, one can of course listen to the music of one’s choice to one’s heart’s content. On behalf of the church authorities, you are, beforehand, thanked for your understanding.
We do not want to deprive you of a special saying, in English, hanging on one of the walls:
“Don’t ever do a good turn, unless you are brave enough to bear ingratitude”....

Our conclusion:
A very out-of-the-ordinary villa, full of beauty and privacy, superbly situated and very much suited for a family holiday with, for instance, an elderly couple which could retire to their own quarters when wanted (see above, the special apartment, all ground-floor).

Facilities:
Parking space, terrace, large garden with garden furniture, swimming pool, portico, WiFi Internet connection (for free), safe, telephone/fax, TV-sat, 2 x oven/refrigerator/freezer/dish washer, micro wave, coffee maker, laundry room with washing machine and dryer, wood oven.

Possibilities for sports/excursions:
You can go for lovely walks, but riding is a possibility, as well as going about on a mountain bike. In Sovicille there is a golf course (25 min. dive by car), and there are hot springs in Petriolo, 30 min. drive. Lots of interesting excursions to be made, such as, of course, to Siena, age-old with wonderful shops and the famous Piazza del Campo and the museum of arts, with over 600 works of arts to be admired. Then, there are the equally famous, smaller cities of Montalcino, Montepulciano and San Gimignano – buy wines here! – and last but not least, the city of Florence. Go to the Mercato Centrale Di San Lorenzo, a market situated in 19th century halls with a metal roof, and then visit stand nr. 344, Perini, for mouth-watering cheeses and meats. Also Pisa (Campo dei Miracoli) and Lucca (e.g. biking over the city walls) are within easy driving range.
And then a tip: Pay a visit to Murlo, a tiny, very ancient walled village on a hill top, with a very interesting Etruscan museum. You will not find any shop here, and there is only one restaurant but for those interested in Etruscan culture, as well as for those who do not care for shopping everywhere but like the very special atmosphere of this age-old village this is a very special experience.

Distances: (approx. kms.)
Nearest shops, restaurants, supermarket and bank in Monticiano 7, Siena 35, San Gimignano 52, Montalcino 63, beaches (Follonica) 50. Driving by car to: Florence 30 min, Pisa 80 min, Rome 1 hr. 20 min.

Lay-out:
Ground floor: Entrance, kitchen (5 steps down) with table, chairs, stove with 6 cooking elements, oven, refrigerator/freezer, dish washer, micro wave. Spacious living/dining room with French windows to the garden with swimming pool, toilet.
First floor: Large living/dining room with fire place and TV-sat, small breakfast kitchen (oven, 4 cooking elements, refrigerator/freezer, dish washer, coffeemaker); double bedroom (with extra bed) and bedroom with 2 beds, sharing a bathroom with basin, toilet, bidet and small (sitting) bath; double bedroom with en-suite bathroom with basin, toilet, bidet and shower; bedroom with 2 beds with 2 windows with splendid view and en-suite bathroom with basin, toilet, bidet and shower.
Mezzanine – in-between floor: 14 steps up, to a double bedroom with en-suite bathroom with basin, toilet, bidet and shower.
Garden level: Small studio-apartment consisting of a bedroom with kitchen corner (2 cooking elements, small refrigerator, dish washer) and fire place and with a small bathroom with basin, toilet, bidet and shower.