Historic site

Barberino Val d'Elsa

48 locals recommend

Tips from locals

Marzio

January 17, 2013

A genuine 'borgo' pleasant to visit and largely missed by the crowds

Alessandra

December 3, 2019

Medieval walls, Etruscan burial grounds and some of Tuscany'2 best rustic food. the preserved medieval centre is a delight to explore. You can visit Palazzo Pretorio, Church of San Bartolommeo, Porta Romana. Barberino's hills produce some of Tuscany's finest wine and olive oil. Festivals: Barberino in fiore ( Barberino in bloom) in may; the Festa Medievale in June. Nearby: Sant'Appiano and its Romanesque Pieve, and Vico d'Elsa .

Cecilia

May 4, 2020

Wonderful views and great restaurants

Luca

April 30, 2020

The town of Barberino Tavarnelle is located in a happy position between the Val d’Elsa and the Val di Pesa. We are in the heart of Chianti, not far from Florence, but in a Tuscany not too crowded and full of hidden corners full of charm. The historic Barberino preserves its medieval structure intact, with the two access gates (the Fiorentina and the Senese) and the defensive towers towards the Drove valley. The birth of the village dates back to the first decades of the thirteenth century, following the destruction of Semifonte by the Florentines. It was precisely the position of the ridge, on the watershed between Valdelsa and Val di Pesa, that pushed the Florentines to use the village against the feudal allies of the Empire. Not far away, even today, you can admire the fascinating ruins of the ancient center. Once here, it is certainly worth a visit, isolated in the countryside but not far from the center of Barberino, the beautiful basilica of Sant 'Appiano. The church of Santa Maria in Marcialla instead hides an interesting mystery: one of the side altars is dominated by what is traditionally considered a youthful fresco by Michelangelo. In fact, some form can make one think of the great artist and, to thicken the mystery, under a marble slab of the altar, there is an abbreviation that intertwines the letters MBF intertwined, for some a real youthful "tag" by Buonarroti. Tavarnelle, however, once a resting place along the Via Regia, stands out for a number of churches and parish churches rich in works of art. For example, we meet the church of Santa Lucia al Borghetto - a thirteenth-century Franciscan convent which houses an Annunciation by Neri di Bicci - or, in the hamlet of Morrocco, the fifteenth-century church of Santa Maria del Carmine and the Romanesque parish church of San Pietro in Cartridge. In the parsonage of the parish church there is also a museum of sacred art, which conserves works from the churches of the small abandoned nuclei, such as a series of panels made in 1473 by Neri di Bicci. But what is probably the highlight of the area is the imposing Badia a Passignano, founded in 1049 by the monks of the Vallombrosan order. Immersed in the countryside, from the outside it is very similar to a fortress; inside, the frescoes by Passignano (1601) in the main chapel of the church and especially the Last Supper frescoed by Domenico and Davide Ghirlandaio (1476-77), in the refectory of the monastery. Certainly deserve a visit San Donato in Poggio, a medieval village, the Renaissance Palazzo Malaspina, the Romanesque parish church of San Donato and the Emilio Ferrari Museum of peasant culture, where it is possible to retrace the history of the rural Chianti world.I also remind you that in Marcialla a small town near Barberino Tavarnelle, there is an unforgettable experience that you can book through airbnb, the experience consists in creating your pizza together with a real pizza chef, typing on Airbnb "the secrets of luca's Tuscan pizza "there are excellent reviews, look and book

Willemijn

February 26, 2016

Barberino is also beautiful and close by, so do have a look around. Typical old Tuscan town with very calm and friendly atmosphere.

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