Monteriggioni
Comune
Comune di Monteriggioni
Aerial view of Monteriggioni
Aerial view of Monteriggioni
Coat of arms of Monteriggioni
Coat of arms
Location of Monteriggioni
Monteriggioni is located in Italy
Monteriggioni
Monteriggioni
Location of Monteriggioni in Italy
Monteriggioni is located in Tuscany
Monteriggioni
Monteriggioni
Monteriggioni (Tuscany)
Coordinates: 43°23′24.01″N 11°13′23.95″E / 43.3900028°N 11.2233194°E / 43.3900028; 11.2233194
CountryItaly
RegionTuscany
ProvinceSiena (SI)
FrazioniAbbadia a Isola, Badesse, Basciano, Belverde, Castellina Scalo, Lornano, Montarioso, Quercegrossa, San Martino, Santa Colomba, Strove, Tognazza, Uopini
Government
 • MayorAndrea Frosini (PD)
Area
[1]
 • Total99.72 km2 (38.50 sq mi)
Elevation
200 m (700 ft)
Population
 (2022)[2]
 • Total10,099
 • Density100/km2 (260/sq mi)
DemonymMonteriggionesi
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
53035
Dialing code0577
Patron saintAssumption of Mary
Saint day15 August
WebsiteOfficial website

Monteriggioni is a comune in the province of Siena in the Italian region of Tuscany. It borders on the communes of Casole d'Elsa, Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Poggibonsi, Siena, and Sovicille.[3] The town is architecturally and culturally significant; it hosts several piazzas, and is referenced in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

History

City walls of Monteriggioni.

Monteriggioni is a medieval walled town, located on a natural hillock, built by the Sienese in 1214–19 as a front line in their wars against Florence,[4] by assuming command of the Via Cassia running through the Val d'Elsa and Val Staggia to the west.

During the conflicts between Siena and Florence in the Middle Ages, the city was strategically placed as a defensive fortification.[5] It also withstood many attacks from both the Florentines and the forces of the Bishop of Volterra.[6] In 1554 the Sienese were able to place control of the town's garrison to Giovannino Zeti, who had been exiled from Florence.[7] In 1554, in an act of reconciliation with the Medicis, Zeti simply handed the keys of the town over to the Medicean forces— considered a "great betrayal" by the town's people.[3]

Main sights

The roughly circular walls, totalling a length of about 570 metres (1,870 ft) and following the natural contours of the hill, were built between 1213 and 1219. There are 14 towers on square bases set at equidistance, and two portals or gates. One gate, the Porta Fiorentina opens toward Florence to the north, and the other, the Porta Romana, faces Rome to the south. The main street within the walls connects the two gates in a roughly straight line.

The main town square, the Piazza Roma, is dominated by a Romanesque church with a simple, plain façade. Other houses, some in the Renaissance style (once owned by local nobles, gentry, and wealthy merchants) face into the piazza. Off the main piazza smaller streets give way to public gardens fronted by the other houses and small businesses of the town. In more hostile times, these gardens provided vital sustenance when enemies gathered around the walls during sieges.

Other sights in the town's countryside include:

Cultural significance

The Tuscan poet Dante Alighieri used the turrets of Monteriggioni to evoke the sight of the ring of giants encircling the Infernal abyss.

As with circling round
Of turrets, Monteriggioni crowns his walls;
E’en thus the shore, encompassing the abyss,
Was turreted with giants, half their length
Uprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heaven
Yet threatens, when his muttering thunder rolls.[8]

Monteriggioni also plays a significant role in the games Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, both of which are loosely based around certain key historical events in Renaissance Italy.[9] It is home to protagonist Ezio Auditore and his uncle Mario, who live in the fictional Villa Auditore, which is based on Villa di Maiano.

Education

Public schools include:[10]

  • Preschools (Scuole dell'Infanzia): C. Collodi, Don Muzzi, and Pinocchio
  • Elementary schools (Scuole primare): I. Calvino, G. Rodari, and Don L. Milani
  • One junior high school (Scuola secondaria di 1° grado): Scuola Media Statale "Dante Alighieri"

All public schools within the commune are a part of the Istituto Comprensivo Statale di Monteriggioni, School District #38.[11]

International School of Siena, a private international school, is in the commune.[12]

Demographic evolution

Inhabitant's census of Monteriggioni
  Population (1861-2021) Residential population (2021) according to the Istituto nazionale di statistica.[13]
  Population by local area census.

Municipal government

The Town Hall

Monteriggioni is headed by a mayor (sindaco) assisted by a legislative body, the consiglio comunale, and an executive body, the giunta comunale. Since 1995, the mayor and members of the consiglio comunale are directly elected together by resident citizens, while from 1945 to 1995 the mayor was chosen by the legislative body. The giunta comunale is chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, called assessori. The offices of the comune are housed in a building usually called the municipio or palazzo comunale.

Since 1995, the mayor of Monteriggioni is directly elected by citizens, originally every four, then every five years. The current mayor is Andrea Frosini (PD), elected on 26 May 2019 with 43.3% of the votes.

Mayor Term start Term end   Party
Paolo Casprini 24 April 1995 14 June 2004 DS
Bruno Valentini 14 June 2004 22 April 2013 PD
Raffaella Senesi 22 April 2013[lower-alpha 1] 27 May 2019 PD
Andrea Frosini 27 May 2019 incumbent PD
Notes
  1. ↑ As vice-mayor from 22 April 2013 till 26 May 2014

References

  1. ↑ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Population data from Istat
  3. 1 2 "Tuscany Tours - Chianti tour n. 1". Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Crump, Vincent (April 6, 2008). "Step up for Europe's top treks". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Miklas, Margie (7 March 2016). "Monteriggioni – Another Hilltop Town in Tuscany". L'Italo-Americano. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "Monteriggioni San Gimignano and Castellina in Chianti Fullday from Rome". Trip Republic. Rome. 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  7. ↑ Bucknall, Harry (17 July 2014). Like a Tramp, Like A Pilgrim: On Foot, Across Europe to Rome. A&C Black. p. 144. ISBN 9781408187265.
  8. ↑ Translated by Henry Francis Cary during the years 1805–1844
  9. ↑ Owen, Phil (2 November 2012). "Fact: Assassin's Creed II's Monteriggioni is a real place". vg247. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Strutture Educative." Monteriggioni. Retrieved on October 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ Home. Istituto Comprensivo Statale di Monteriggioni. Retrieved on October 22, 2016.
  12. ↑ Home. International School of Siena. Retrieved on October 22, 2016.
  13. ↑ - ISTAT;  09-10-2022.
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