Our destination after our morning detour to Siena is Monteplciano, another hill town in Tuscany, this one is slightly off the beaten track and not on the Asian tour bus circuit….it has however been endorsed by the premier American travel writer Rick Stein and is crawling with American tourists. Boo.
We drive up the winding streets and through the start of the old town to park in the hotel carpark….it was a mission getting there but parked we are and the steep slopes of the town are so much more welcome than stairs.
From the car park we walked straight into the main square of the town dragging our luggage and were stopped dead in our tracks…….
….the buildings were so rustic, there was clay and straw covering the central square, reed baskets and a medieval market place was set up around the town well. People were loitering around in medieval peasant costume….we had just walked into a film set…..true!
So, what is real and what is not. All the buildings are real, except this dark brown block/wood one (right) that the fruit and vege stalls are against, believe it or not, it is made of heavy plastic and is a front piece only, a board frame is the back supporting brace.
The well is real and dates back to the 15th century…on the top is the Medici coat of arms, The lion holding a shield with six balls on it.
The word around the square was that Dustin Hoffman and Richard Madden (Rob Stark – Game of Thrones) are staring in a mini series called ‘The Medici’s of Florence’ which is currently being shot here, in Montepulciano. It was amazing, while Rosie and The Operator were sitting on the side of the square having lunch, Dustin Hoffman walked into the Duomo for shooting, right by us. Rosie nearly spilled her wine. See him, the grey haired man in the middle.
The Operator jumped into a Medici carriage when no one was looking….rebel.
On the corner of the square, down a wee alley is our hotel the Mueble il Riccio ( House of the Hedghog ) it is a beautiful, small, family run, former Renaissance Palazzo that is now a small hotel that has been in the same family for generations.
This is our wee internal private balcony, it came with our room and was totally unexpected and lovely. We felt so grand, Rosie was getting her Renaissance vibe on.
Montepulciano is a real town, a little grim, grimy and squat, washing hangs from the windows on the clotheslines between windows, dog crap is on every corner from where the locals toilet their dogs, cats sit on windowsills and cars are crammed into any nook and cranny that will take a park.
Perched on a steep hilltop there has always been a town here since the 3rd century BC, various city states have fought for control of the town and it has been taken over numerous times and infighting amongst the nobles has divided the town over its history. The walls of the city are from the 14th century and most of the buildings are from the mid 1500s when the town was at the height of its fortunes.
Primarily Montepulciano is an agricultural town, great fertile plains surround the city and it is a base for the huge wine industry of the region. Everything is abit worn down and dirty and dusty here, Rosie likes it….lets have a look around.
The main square is abit of a washout with the film crew in town, all of the public buildings and the church are closed for public access as they are in the middle of filming, still it is fun to watch what is going on.
Rosie has the answer as to all the clay and straw in the middle of the piazza….there is actually a big square of red tiles in the middle of the square, hence why they have covered it, to make it look abit truer to the Medici period.
We thought we would start where all good uphill hikes start….at the bottom of the hill, or at the town gate. It is a robust portal, you can see the slot where the portcullis dropped from and the huge hinges that once held the gate.
This particular gate had 4 barriers to put between anyone trying to breach the town….to the side of the gate is a sign that reads Secret Passage, if you have a look it does look like a little side door set into the town wall…..apparently there were secret entrances into the city so supplies could be snuck in or messages sent out in times of siege….hmmm Rosie thinks this passage would be a little to obvious to those trying to get in the front door….anyway, this ‘secret passage’ leads to a salami shop, just inside the gates.
This is the Colonna dell Marzocco, a lion sits on top holding the Medici shield….a reminder that the town was under the umbrella of Florence….originally the column had the she wolf suckling the twins on top, which was the sign of Siena, as the ‘ownership’ winds changed of the town so did the top of the column.
This building used to belong to a 19th century antiques dealer. Etruscan and Roman fragments are embedded in the wall as part of a collection he started. The alphabet that looks like it is written backwards is Estruscan and dates from BC.
This shop front on the right, is on my walking tour for the old style advertising signs depicting the shops wares…..
The side lanes of Montepulciano are narrow, interesting and sooooo steep, the are called vicolo, little streets. Many are spanned by brick arches allowing the age old buildings to lean against each other for support rather than toppling over. These higgledy piggledy lanes are give you a peek into the medieval town and what it was like.
The streets are starting to level out and you approach the Piazza Grande where the film crew is, today they have bought animals to the set and there is a full blown medieval market going on.
As the sun sets, braziers and torches are lit…..there is an angrey mob at the city hall and they are pounding on the gates chanting Medici…Medici…Medici…..
This town is small, compact, and easy to wander around at a slow pace when you are chugging up the hill. It moves slowly, no one is in a hurry here….only the grape pickers, most of the harvest is in, there are only a few fields left. Things are just a tad too slow here for Rosie….time to move on, tomorrow we are heading to Assisi and crossing into the hilly province of Umbria, following the St Francis pilgrim trail to this Holy Town.
