Piazza Matteotti of Greve in Chianti - known as Piazza del Re Umberto in the 19 C.
History of Greve in Chianti
The current municipal territory of Greve is an area of ancient settlement, as indicated by toponymy and a few discoveries made among the place names entered in the land registries of the diocese of
Fiesole during the middle ages (e.g. Canonica, Citrulle, Casole,
Lucolena). At that time, Greve was described as "a little village in the parish of San Cresci di Monteficalli". The
pieve of San Cresci (parish church) is about 1 km across the valley from what is now
Montefioralle, previously
Monteficalli. Greve was destined, nevertheless, to develop as a market ("mercatale") at the intersection of the roads passing through
Chianti from
Florence to
Sienna, and from the
upper Valdarno to the
Val di Pesa.
Although other places nearby, such as
Strada and
Rubbiana, also adopted the role of trading centre, Greve grew to such an extent that it became the capital of the homonymous Leopoldian community which, in the second half of the 18 C, replaced the leagues of the
Val di Greve and Cintoia which already had their own podestà. The interests of the various fortified nuclei in the area converged on Greve as a market town, centred on the attractive triangular piazza which is still surrounded by pretty arcades. Among these fortified population centres, the most important were
Montefioralle, a veritable "walled town" with a feudal castle and a church,
Panzano, built up by the Firidolfi and originally a village that was for centuries the most populous in the territory,
Lamole, a minor location but with a
castle and the centre of an area of sparse but quite high population, and, further away on the other side of the Monti del Chianti,
Lucolena, which has in the meantime lost its fortifications.
The northern part of the municipal territory of Greve was occupied by the league which took its name from the
Castle of Cintoia, located on the western slopes of
Montescalari and probably of Lombard origin, which in the 17 C and 18 C was the main centre of the Val d'Ema, possessing a certain autonomy but now no more than a small rural village. The same can be said of
Dudda, former stronghold of the Counts Guidi, and
Sezzate which is better furnished with defense works and is the former seat of a rural fortified community.
Many of the numerous castles in the municipality were subsequently transformed into villas and farms, including
Uzzano, which belonged to the family of the famous Niccolò da Uzzano,
Vicchiomaggio, the 'Viculo' of the 10 C Lombards, and
Mugnana, which retains interesting architectural elements from the 13 C. Others, however, have lost their original character (e.g. Citille, Collegalli, Convertoie, Rignana, Torsoli, Linari) or retain a few mediaeval remnants (e.g. Montegonzi and le Stinche - now Stinche Alte but previously in the municipality of
Radda). Others are even the hard to locate, among them Montagliari and Rubbiana. There are also numerous mediaeval "manor houses" now transformed into villas, which include
Verrazzano, which belonged to the family of the navigator
Giovanni da Verrazzano,
Colognole,
Vignamaggio,
Vitigliano, and
Santa Lucia.
Five parish churches attest to the ancient religious organisation of the territory of Greve: Rubbiana, Cintoia, Sillano,
San Cresci and
San Leolino. All of these display considerable remnants of the original Romanesque structures, particularly San Leolino, which is flanked by a cloister, posseses a 16 C portico and preserves several works of art. Many of the mediaeval churches that were dependencies of the five parish churches have lost much of their mediaeval character, with the exception of those at Vicchiomaggio, Convertoie and Le Stinche.
More about romanesque churches in Chianti.
Near Greve there also arose a small Franciscan monastery, of which today there remain some traces in the current
Museum of Religious Art, and there are reports of a hospice built near
Mercatale. At
San Martino in Cecione there was a monastery for women, the church of which was donated to the parish, but a more long-lasting monastic complex was the
Montescalari Vallombrosian Abbey, rebuilt by Alfonso Parigi 16 C and 17 C, and, after the suppression of the monasteries, was transformed into a villa-farm.
Expressions of popular piety worthy of note are the oratory of
Sant' Eufrosino at Panzano, dedicated to a saint who is particularly revered in Chianti, and the
Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows at Montagliari, rebuilt in 1632 in baroque style, as well as several minor strcutures which include the small but elegant
Cappella di Ottavo near Lucolena. The original Capella della Madonna della Neve a Montagliari might mark the uncertain location of the castle of Montagliari.
Anna Maria Baldini
