What is Montaione known for?

Franciscan Sacro Monte built between 1500 and 1515 as a topographical replica of the holy sites of Jerusalem, seventeen chapels in oak woods. Tartufo bianco zone in the San Miniato hills, celebrated each October at the Mostra del Tartufo Bianco of Montaione. Local craft from the early fourteenth century, formalized by an eighteenth-century Grand-Ducal decree requiring masters to teach apprentices in the comune.

Montaione is a comune in the province of Firenze, Tuscany region of Italy, about 61 kilometers from Firenze.

Tuscany · Firenze

Montaione

A medieval glassmaking and truffle borgoabove the Valdelsa, with a Franciscan replica of Jerusalem in the woods at San Vivaldo.

61 km / 38 mi

Nearest hub (Firenze)

3,492

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Montaione sitson a ridge above the Valdelsa, in the wooded hills west of Florence on the road toward Volterra. Etruscan and Roman finds at Poggio all'Aglione, Bellafonte and Iano confirm continuous occupation. The medieval castello was the seat of an autonomous comune from 1256 and passed to Florence in 1369. From the early fourteenth century, glassmaking ran in the surrounding woods; an eighteenth-century decree by the Grand Duke required master glassmakers to teach the craft to their fellow citizens. The town joined Borghi più belli in 2007. Five kilometers from the centro storico, in the woods at San Vivaldo, a Franciscan convent founded in 1500 holds a Sacro Monte of small chapels arranged as a topographical replica of the holy sites of Jerusalem, built between 1500 and 1515. The territory is also one of the most prized white truffle zones in Italy and includes Castelfalfi, a Lombard-origin castle restored as a private resort with a golf course and vineyards.

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Gallery

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Known for

Sacro Monte di San Vivaldo
Franciscan complex five kilometers west of the borgo, with seventeen surviving chapels built between 1500 and 1515 as a topographical replica of Jerusalem.
Castelfalfi
Lombard-origin castle and frazione ten kilometers south, restored as a private resort with vineyards and a Romanesque church of San Floriano.
Centro storico
Medieval grid on the ridge, with the Palazzo Pretorio, the Torre del Cassero and the Chiesa di San Regolo restored after 1118 foundations.
Museo Civico Archeologico
Archaeological museum in the centro storico, holding Etruscan, Roman and medieval finds from across the comune territory.
Parco Benestare
Wooded recreational park at the edge of the borgo, with hiking trails through holm oak and chestnut groves toward the San Vivaldo complex.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months Montaione shows best, the Valdelsa light low on the wooded ridges and the San Vivaldo chapels in their full October ochre. The Mostra del Tartufo Bianco runs the last weekend of October and the first of November. July and August push past thirty in the valley but the centro storico at 341 meters stays manageable. November through March is quiet, several restaurants close, but the woods at San Vivaldo under fog hold the seventeen chapels of the Sacro Monte in the kind of light the Franciscans planned for.