Colle di Val d'Elsa

Colle di Val d'Elsa
Country	Italy
region	Tuscany
province	Siena  (SI)
Coordinates	43 ° 24 '  N , 11 ° 8'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 24 '0 "  N , 11 ° 8' 0"  E
height	141  m slm
surface	92 km²
Residents	21,833 (Dec 31, 2019)
Population density	237 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	53034
prefix	0577
ISTAT number	052012
Popular name	Colligiani
Patron saint	San Marziale and Sant'Alberto da Chiatina (July 1st)
Website	Colle di Val d'Elsa commune
Panorama of Colle di Val d'Elsa

Colle di Val d'Elsa (mostly just Colle or Colle Val d'Elsa) is a town with 21,833 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) in Tuscany , province of Siena . It lies in the valley of the Elsa . The upper town of Colle Alta, which can be reached by an elevator from the lower town, is worth seeing. The city used to be famous for its book printing and glassware.

geography

Location of Colle di Val d'Elsa in the province of Siena

The place extends over 92  km² . The municipality is in the climatic classification of Italian municipalities in zone D, 1 776 GR / G and is part of the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino . Among the most important waterways in the municipality of name-giving additional flow counts Elsa (13 of 81 km in the urban area).

The districts (Frazioni) include Bibbiano (218 m, approx. 40 inhabitants), Borgatello (247 m, approx. 260 inhabitants), Boscona (235 m, approx. 60 inhabitants), Campiglia dei Foci (242 m, approx. 870 Inhabitants), Castel San Gimignano (377 m, approx. 150 inhabitants, partly also belongs to San Gimignano), Collalto (259 m, approx. 30 inhabitants), Coneo (247 m, approx. 260 inhabitants), Gracciano d'Elsa , Lano (277 m, approx. 50 inhabitants), Mensanello (247 m, approx. 40 inhabitants), Montegabbro (277 m, approx. 15 inhabitants), Onci (204 m, approx. 15 inhabitants), Quartaia (266 m, approx. 440 inhabitants), Sant'Andrea (226 m, approx. 30 inhabitants), Scarna (218 m, approx. 50 inhabitants) and Selvamaggio (225 m, approx. 170 inhabitants). Other localities (località) or hamlets are Buliciano , Dometaia , Molino d'Aiano , Partena , Paurano and Vico .

The neighboring municipalities are Casole d'Elsa , Monteriggioni , Poggibonsi , San Gimignano and Volterra ( PI ).

history

The first historical finds in the municipality date from the 4th millennium BC. Chr. Then the area was used by the Etruscans inhabited the main tracks in the districts Dometaia and Le Ville left. Important influence on the history of the city had the Via Francigena , which at the no longer existing Pieve a Elsa (also known as Pieve d'Elsa refer to operations Sigeric the Serious as the 17th day of travel under Aelsae out) in the village of Gracciano skirted.

Today's place was built around the 10th century and was divided into the districts Piano (also called Spugna , today's Colle basso) and Castello di Piticciano (today's Colle alto, also just called Castello), later came the so-called third of the city Borgo (Borgo di Santa Caterina) at the gates of Colle Alto. The castle of Piticciano is mentioned for the first time in a document of the Aldobrandeschi dated October 8, 1007. The place is also mentioned in letters from Popes Paschal II of November 27, 1115, from Gelasius II (November 27, 1119), Anastasius IV. (December 7, 1153) and Hadrian IV (April 16, 1154). In the following time the municipality looked for allies, which it found in San Gimignano and Semifonte (today in the area of ​​the municipality of Barberino Val d'Elsa , captured in 1202 and destroyed by Florence). Opposite were the communities from Poggibonsi and Volterra. The main town at that time was Gracciano, but after the emerging conflicts between Ghibellines and Guelphs or Siena and Florence, most of the residents moved into the Castello, which expanded to include Palazzo Campana and was now run under the name Castelnuovo de 'Franchi . On September 4, 1260 Colle took part on the side of the Guelfs in the Battle of Montaperti , from which the enemy emerged victorious. After Manfred's death in 1266, the tide turned again in favor of the Guelfs, who were able to defeat Siena on June 16 and 17, 1269 at the Battle of Colle . In 1301 Colle entered into an alliance with Florence, Lucca , Siena, Prato and San Gimignano to face Pistoia .

In the 13th century the so-called Gore were created, an artificial canal system that fed the waters of the Elsa to the town and supplied both the upper and the lower town. At the beginning of the same century Colle declared itself a free commune, the communal statutes with the establishment of the Office of the Capitano del Popolo and the Podestà were created in 1307. From September 24th to November 2nd, the city suffered from the siege of the troops from Siena and of the Kingdom of Naples , supported by Pope Sixtus IV . The siege took place in the context of and after the Pazzi conspiracy and ended with the capture of Colle, with the Ponte Campana destroyed (later rebuilt). In 1481 the place returned to Florence. After the fall of the Republic of Siena in 1555, a period of peace came. 1592 was the site own diocese by Clement VIII. Granted, which opened on 30 September 1986 at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino .

In spring 2007 there were protests against the building of a mosque with a minaret. After years of polemics, which also became known outside of Italy and in which Oriana Fallaci and Mario Borghezio participated, the mosque of Colle di Val d'Elsa was inaugurated on October 25, 2013 on a site outside the city center.

Buildings and monuments

Colle alto

Castello

Palace and access gate to Colle Alto, the Palazzo Campana

• Concattedrale dei Santi Alberto e Marziale (Cathedral). The building, begun in 1603 by the architect Fausto Rughesi, was built on the 12th century Cappella di San Salvatoris de Colleveteri and later Pieve dei Santi Salvatore ed Alberto . Contains frescoes by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini from 1690 as well as works by Deifebo Burbarini , Rutilio Manetti , Mino da Fiesole , Astolfo Petrazzi , Pietro Tacca , Ottavio Vannini (canvas picture Ultima Cena , 1636).
• Santa Maria in Canonica , first documented church in Colle Alta in 1183. Contains works by Pier Francesco Fiorentino (fresco Dio Padre Benedicente and altarpiece Madonna col Bambino ei Santi Giovanni Battista, Lorenzo, Marco e Nicola ).
• Casa-torre di Arnolfo di Cambio , family tower and birthplace of Arnolfo di Cambio in Via del Castello .
• Palazzo Campana , palace over the Via del Castello with associated bridge (Ponte Campana). Was built around 1536 by Baccio d'Agnolo and is similar to a city gate.
• Palazzo del Comune , also known as Palazzo dei Priori , building from the 13th century, now houses the Museo civico e d'arte sacra di Colle di Val d'Elsa museum , which houses works by the Badia-a-Isola master ( Madonna col Bambino e angeli , also called Maestà , comes from the Abbazia dei Santi Salvatore e Cirino church in Abbadia a Isola ( Monteriggioni ) and from Lorenzo di Bicci ( Madonna con Bambino e Santi, Crocifissione di Cristo , comes from the Chiesa di San church Giusto a Villore in Poggibonsi), Alessandro Casolani , Cennino Cennini, Segna di Bonaventura , Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Sebastiano Folli , Ridolfo Ghirlandajo ( Compianto su Cristo morto ), Bernardino Mei and Ventura Salimbeni .
• Palazzo del Podestà , also called Palazzo Pretorio , former town hall from the 14th century. Today it is home to the Museo Archeologico , the Antiquarium Etrusco “ Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli ” and is the seat of the Gruppo Archeologico Colligiano .
• Palazzo Buonaccorsi , 16th century, Via del Castello 21.
• Palazzo Dini , 16th century, Via del Castello 47.
• Palazzo Giusti , 16th century, Via del Castello 38.
• Palazzo Luci , 16th century, Via del Castello 3.

Borgo

Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, church in the Borgo

• San Pietro , with the adjoining monastery Monastero delle Oblate agostiniane , was completed by Pietro Usimbardi in the first decade of the 16th century. Contains the works “Assunzione della Madonna”, “San Nicola di Bari” and “San Carlo”.
• Santa Caterina , church first mentioned in the 13th century. The current appearance dates from the 18th century. Contains a series of glazed terracotta sculptures from the 16th century by Zaccaria Zacchi. The church is dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria .
• Oratorio della Compagnia della Santa Croce , originated as Compagnia della Santa Croce in the 17th century and is located to the left of the Church of Santa Caterina.
• Palazzo Alessi (now Palazzo Salvetti), 16th century, Via Gracco del Secco 5.
• Palazzo Apolloni (Palazzo Somerau ex Apolloni Savolini), 17th century, Via Campana 16.
• Palazzo Buoninsegni , 17th century, Via Campana 35.
• Palazzo Ceramelli , Via Campana 12.
• Palazzo Pacini , 16th century, Via Gracco del Secco 79.
• Palazzo Renieri di Sotto , today's town hall, Via Campana 18.
• Palazzo Usimbardi (also Palazzo di Giustizia), 16th century, Via del Gracco del Secco 22.
• Porta Nova , also called Porta Salis , Solis or Volterrana , city gate from the 15th century that replaced the older Porta Selva . The planning for this is attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo .
• Convento di San Francesco , first mentioned in 1229, the Franciscan convent just outside the city walls. Contained the works of San Ludovico di Tolosa e San Francesco by Lippo Memmi , Madonna con Bambino by Sano di Pietro and Madonna con Bambino con i Santi Domenico e Francesco by Pier Francesco Fiorentino, which are now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena . During restoration work in 1992, frescos by Cennino Cennini and Pier Francesco Fiorentino were found.

Colle basso

• Chiesa di Sant'Agostino , built in 1305 and modified in 1531 according to plans by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder , in the Gothic style. Contains among others the works Madonna col Bambino by Taddeo di Bartolo , Deposizione e santi (created 1519) by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio and Pietà e Santi by Ludovico Cigoli .
• Beata Vergine del Renaio , church that was built in the 16th century and is located near the church of Santa Maria a Spugna.
• Abbazia di San Salvatore a Spugna , abbey from the 12th century, today rebuilt several times and used as a Fattoria .
• Ponte di Spugna , also Ponte di Arnolfo , former bridge over the Elsa between the Abbazia di San Salvatore a Spugna and Santa Maria a Spugna. Used today as a new building for traffic.
• Porta Guelfa , gate of the fortifications of Colle Bassa.
• Santa Maria a Spugna , 10th century church that was modified in the 18th century.
• Banca del Monte dei Paschi di Siena , a bank of the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena created in 1973 by Giovanni Michelucci , which resulted from the restoration of an old glass factory.

In the districts

Apse of the Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta a Conèo abbey

The Romanesque church of Pieve dei Santi Ippolito e Cassiano

• San Niccolò (Niccolò e Caterina), church in the Bibbiano district.
• San Michele Arcangelo , church in Borgatello first mentioned in the 12th century.
• San Giorgio , church in Buliciano.
• San Bartolomeo , church in the Campiglia dei Foci district, first mentioned in the 13th century.
• Santi Biagio e Anna , Church in Collalto.
• Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta a Conèo , 11th century abbey on the Via Francigena. District of Conèo.
• Pieve dei Santi Ippolito e Cassiano a Conèo , Pieve was first documented in 972 near Conèo.
• Santa Maria delle Nevi , church at Fabbricciano.
• San Marziale , church in Gracciano.
• San Martino , church in Lano.
• Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie , sanctuary in the district of Le Grazie. (16th century), probably built over an older structure.
• Santa Maria Assunta , church in Mensanello from the late 13th century. Was enlarged in the 19th century and renewed in the 20th century.
• San Pietro (now San Giovanni ), Romanesque church in Montegabbro
• San Michele , Romanesque church in Onci.
• Santi Jacopo e Filippo , church in the district of Quartaia. Was built in 1356 as the Church of San Cerbone and was later renamed Jacopo and Filippo.
• San Biagio , church near Sant'Andrea.
• Sant'Andrea , church in the district of Sant'Andrea. Was first mentioned at the beginning of the 11th century and was restored in the 18th century.

Further

Le Caldane, thermal springs

Le Gore, canal system

The Elsa river in the Parco Fluviale dell'Alta Val d'Elsa

• Le Caldane , thermal spring south of Gracciano dell'Elsa, which was already used by the Etruscans. Was destroyed by Siena in 1260 and restored in 1440.
• Gore di Colle di Val d'Elsa , artificial canal system to supply the city with water. Originated in the 13th century and begins at the Ponte di San Marziale bridge . Here, at the point called Steccaia and Callone Reale, the waters of the Elsa are diverted and fed into the main channel Gora Maestro.
• Parco Fluviale dell'Alta Val d'Elsa , natural park along the Elsa. Runs from the Ponte di San Marziale bridge (southernmost point of the path) to the Ponte di Spugna bridge (northernmost point).
• Ponte di Santa Giulia , bridge at the fork to Monteriggioni and Casole d'Elsa.
• Necropoli di Dometaia , Etruscan necropolis near Dometaia. Most of the finds from the tombs are now in the Museo Archeologico Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli in the Palazzo Pretorio.

Culture

Museums

• Crystal Museum ( Museo del Cristallo ) in Colle basso.
• Archaeological Museum "Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli" ( Museo Archeologico "Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli" ) in the Palazzo Pretorio.
• Museum San Pietro , previously: Museum of City History and Sacred Art ( Museo San Pietro , previously: Museo Civico e Diocesano d'Arte Sacra ) in the Palazzo dei Priori and Palazzo del Comune.

theatre

• Teatro dei Varii , theater built in 1762 by the architect Antonio Galli da Bibiena with approx. 200 seats in Via del Castello 64. Was restored from 1982 to 1991.
• Teatro del Popolo , created in 1928 by Gino Gérard, was restored in 1971 and 1996 (by Piero Guicciardini and Marco Magni) and can seat 855 people.

Sports

• The football club Colligiana , founded in 1922, played for several years in the fifth-class Serie D and in the fourth-class Lega Pro Seconda Divisione . The club is currently in the fourth-class Serie D and has been playing in the Stadio Gino Manni in Via Liguria since 1982 . The stadium also served as a training ground for AC Siena for several years (until 2014).

economy

The place is the center of the Italian crystal glass industry and has a share of 15% of world production.

traffic

• The junctions Colle di Val d'Elsa Nord and Colle di Val d'Elsa Sud are on the RA3 , which connects Florence with Siena.
• From 1885 Colle di Val d'Elsa was connected to the line from Empoli to Chiusi via the Poggibonsi-Colle Val d'Elsa railway line . In 1982 passenger traffic was stopped, and in 1993 the line was dismantled.
• At Colle di Val d'Elsa there is a small airfield ( Aviosuperficie Mensanello ) for general aviation .

sons and daughters of the town

• Romano Bilenchi (1909–1989), journalist and writer
• Arnolfo di Cambio (1240 / 45–1307 / 10), architect and sculptor
• Cennino Cennini (approx. 1370–1440), painter
• Giovanni De Vivo (1940–2015), Roman Catholic Bishop of Pescia
• Daniele Righi (* 1976), racing cyclist

Colle di Val d'Elsa in literature

The place and the battle of Colle is mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy in the second part (Purgatorio, Canto 13, lines 115-118):

As near to Colle my compatriots

Reached the strong enemy ready to fight;

So I asked God for what he had decided.

Then their army is defeated and escapes.

( Extensor translation)

literature

• Rainer Eisenschmid (Ed.): Tuscany. 16th edition. Baedeker, Ostfildern 2013, ISBN 978-3-8297-1473-0 , pp. 209-211.
• Emanuele Repetti: Dizionario Geografico Fisico Storico della Toscana ( online edition of the University of Siena , Italian).
• Provincia di Siena (ed.): I percorsi della Via Francigena nelle terre di Siena. Editrice Le Balze, Montepulciano 2003, ISBN 978-88-7539-002-0 , pp. 46-54 (Italian).
• TCI : Toscana. Touring Club, Milan 2003, ISBN 978-88-365-2767-0 , pp. 590 ff. (Italian).

Web links

Commons : Colle di Val d'Elsa  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Colle Val d'Elsa
• Website of the Pro Loco in Colle di Val d'Elsa
• Official website of the Teatro del Popolo
• I luoghi della Fede (Siena, Valdelsa)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ↑ Alberto da Chiatina was born in Chiatina (today part of Buonconvento ) in 1135 and died on August 17, 1202 in Colle di Val d'Elsa. He has been the patron saint of the city since July 4, 1962, alongside San Marziale. The feast day of the saint is July 17th, that of San Marziale is June 30th, and the feast day in Colle is July 1st
3. ↑ Official website of the Sistema Informativo Ambientale della Regione Toscana (SIRA) on the rivers in the municipality of Colle di Val d'Elsa , accessed on September 10, 2014 (Italian)
4. ↑ Official website of ISTAT ( Istituto Nazionale di Statistica ) on 2001 population figures in the province of Siena, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian)
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Pro Loco Colle di Val d'Elsa
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Touring Club Italiano: Toscana.
7. ↑ Luigi Pruneti: La Toscana dei Misteri. Editrice Le Lettere, Florence 2004, ISBN 88-7166-852-9 , p. 168 ff.
8. ↑ Official website of the municipality on the history of Colle di Val d'Elsa , accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian)
9. ↑ Oliver Meiler: Pig's Heads on the Minaret. In: Berliner Zeitung . March 13, 2007, accessed July 10, 2015 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Schede di Rilievo del Centro Antico on the website of the Sistema Informativo Territoriale, accessed on April 16, 2017 (Italian)
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e} I Luoghi della Fede.
12. ↑ Il Tirreno on the Church of Chiesa della Beata Vergine del Renaio, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with ill.
13. ^ Il Tirreno zu San Niccolò a Bibbiano, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with illus.
14. ^ Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio di Siena e Grosseto ( Memento of April 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) on San Michele Arcangelo in Borgatello, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian)
15. ↑ Il Tirreno zu San Bartolomeo in the Campiglia district, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with ill.
16. ↑ Il Tirreno on the Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with ill.
17. ^ Il Tirreno zu Santa Maria Assunta, Mensanello, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with ill.
18. ↑ Sistema Informativo Territoriale zu Montegabbro , accessed on April 19, 2017 (Italian)
19. ↑ ^{a b} I percorsi della Via Francigena nelle terre di Siena.
20. ↑ BIBAR Biblioteca Archeologica Online Vol. III: La Valdelsa (Colle Valdelsa, Poggibonsi). P. 246 ff.
21. ↑ Il Tirreno on the Church of Santi Jacopo e Filippo., Accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with illus.
22. ↑ Il Tirreno to Sant'Andrea a Strada, accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian), with illus.
23. ↑ EcoMuseo Val d'Elsa zu Le Caldane , accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian)
24. ↑ EcoMuseo Val d'Elsa: Le gore e le fabbriche. Retrieved April 16, 2017 (Italian)
25. ↑ Parchi Naturali on the Tuscany region website , accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian)
26. ↑ Museo Colle zu Dometaia , accessed on April 14, 2017 (Italian)
27. ↑ Museo del Cristallo. In: MuseiSenesi.org. Retrieved April 19, 2020 (Italian). 
28. ^ Museo Archeologico "Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli". In: MuseiSenesi.org. Retrieved April 19, 2020 (Italian). 
29. ^ Museo San Pietro. In: MuseiSenesi.org. Retrieved April 19, 2020 (Italian). 
30. ↑ Official website of the Toscana region for the Teatro dei Varii (wayback.archive.org of December 17, 2011, accessed on April 14, 2017) ( Memento of December 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
31. ^ Website of the Toscana region on the Teatro del Popolo (wayback.archive.org from May 27, 2011, accessed on April 14, 2017) ( Memento from May 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
32. ↑ Dumont Travel Guide Toscana, p. 116
33. ^ The stretch foot translation for the purgatorio at Wikisource

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