Italy · Restored
Castello di Montalto
Castello di Montalto in Chianti
Castello di Montalto is a medieval hilltop castle in the Berardenga area east of Siena, Italy, with substantial medieval fabric and later Renaissance and 19th-century restorations. The complex includes a tall rectangular watchtower, curtain walls, a courtyard, a small church (San Martino), a loggia, and a great hall known as the Sala d’Armi. Today the estate is restored and used for organic farming and agriturismo.
Its prime
1572
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1572
What Castello di Montalto looked like in its prime.
Perched on a low Tuscan hill above cultivated fields, Montalto is composed of mixed grey-brown stone and brick curtain walls encircling clustered buildings with red terracotta roofs. A tall rectangular crenellated watchtower with narrow loophole windows punctuates the silhouette; lower ramparts and merlons run between the tower and farm-structures. A loggia of arches opens onto an inner courtyard with a central well, while cypress trees and a hedged drive lead up the slope toward the gate.
Its story
The story of Castello di Montalto.
The tower at Montalto appears to have been raised by the Longobards in the 6th or 7th century, but the main castle was the work of the descendants of Winigis, first count of Siena under the Franks in the 9th century. It is from his son Berard that the surrounding Berardenga takes its name. The earliest surviving documents, from the 11th century, already show a well-established community.
Sitting right on the border between the territories of Siena and Florence, Montalto carried real strategic weight through the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, the watchtower's loop-holes and ramparts, and walls attesting to repeated war damage and reconstruction, still show it. As the Berardeschi declined, selling and donating land between 1104 and 1212, the castle passed under the direct control of Siena.
The estate later became the country home of the Palmieri family, whose primary residence was in Siena; a demographic study commissioned in 1676 by Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici counted 50 people at Montalto. In 1970 the last Palmieris ceded the castle to Giovanni Coda Nunziante, and the restored complex, with its church of San Martino and frescoed Sala d'Armi, is now used for organic farming and agriturismo.
Step inside
10 places to explore in 1572.
The record describes 10 distinct spots at Castello di Montalto, including 6 interiors: courtyard with well, portico facing the courtyard, church of san martino (interior) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Castello di Montalto with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Castello di Montalto.
The families that held Castello di Montalto for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Berardeschi
The Berardeschi, descendants of Berard son of Winigis, first count of Siena, held Montalto from the first millennium until their decline in the 13th century.
Palmieri
Country home of the Palmieri family of Siena until 1970, when the last of the family ceded the castle.
From the archive
Castello di Montalto on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Castello di Montalto
1882 · Turin Gallery for Modern and Contemporary Art (via Europeana)
CC BY
Castello di Montalto
1882 · Turin Gallery for Modern and Contemporary Art (via Europeana)
CC BY
Ivrea - Castello di Montalto
· Turin Gallery for Modern and Contemporary Art (via Europeana)
CC BY
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