Castiglion Fiorentino, A Walk Around Town

I really love our little town here and it has come to feel a lot more like home than I had imagined it would. When we go out for fieldtrips or excursions I always look forward to coming back to our sweet, quiet little village.

I thought I’d take you on a “walk” through our little spot here and show you some of the highlights and things that I’ve enjoyed.

Just next to our school, in the square called Piazza Collegiata, is the main church of the town named Chiesa di San Giuliano. “Chiesa” is Italian for church. It’s a beautiful church that dates back to medieval times of the 14th and 15th centuries. They hold mass here every day, and people come from all over town every Sunday to attend mass.


On the left side of the church is this beautiful bell tower that you could see in the town view picture of my last post. It’s one of two towers in our town, which is really useful. If you’re ever out walking through the valley and get turned around, just head toward the tower and you’ll find your way back home. At the top of the tower are giant bronze bells that ring every day. I love the sound of the bells, even when it wakes me up early in the morning. I just wake up a little and smile as I realize I’m in Tuscany.


This close up of a side door to the church gives you a sense of the beautiful brick and masonry work on the building.


Being a medieval town it was built at a time when they encircled their cities within walls and gates. These walls and gates still exist and are still the main entrances to the city. Today the city has spread past the walls and down the hill though due to expansion and population. Unfortunately not all of the development down the hill is as picturesque as inside the walls.

Here is an image of Porto Romano, which means it’s the gate to/from the city that points toward Rome. Notice the simple yet beautiful buildings on the hill and the wonderful rock work.


This is a close up of the rock used to build most of the structures in the old center of town. In several areas it’s quite eroded, but still holding up just fine. The lichen and plants that grow on the walls make them look like they’re right out of a fairy tale.


Just outside of the gate is this large section of the original city wall. Can you see how part of the base of the wall is made of the existing bedrock? Behind and on top of this wall is where our little town is.


The city has 3 gates, and this image is of the gate on the opposite side of the town from the first gate picture. This gate is named Porto Florentino because it points toward Florence. Inside this gate is the main street of the town named Corso Italia. Many of the little towns we’ve visited in Italy have streets named Corso Italia. I get the impression that it’s similar to the way we use the name Main Street.


Here is Corso Italia on a quiet, cloudy morning. The street is lined with a variety of shops selling food, clothes, jewelry, travel arrangements and more, as well as offering two pharmacies (which double as little urgent care clinics) and a few cafes. As you can see the buildings come right up out of the street, and there is no sidewalk. The narrow street is shared by pedestrians, motorists and cyclists so when you hear a car coming by you have to squeeze over to the edge. These folks in the picture are locals going about their day. Look everybody! Real Italians!


On Corso Italia is my favorite bar, Bar Maro. However, the word “bar” here is used to designate a café where they sell coffee, sandwiches and pastries. They do sell liquor here, but I go there for the nice people and the best cappuccinos in town. They recognize me now and wave to me when I walk down the street. The “Caffé Sandy” sign tells you what type of coffee they serve there, like in Belgium the beer signs on the restaurants and bars tell you what type of beer was served. I love that system!


Also on the Corso is a local stationary/art supply store where I go to buy many of my supplies.


And then there’s my favorite Tabacchi. No, I haven’t started smoking. The tabacchi is a tobacco shop but also operates as the local convenience store of sorts and also sells stamps, maps and all kinds of stuff. It’s kind of a unique phenomenon here in Europe, but they’re handy little stores to have around.


And the list wouldn’t be complete without the local hardware store. It’s the strangest little hardware store. They sell hardware, garden supplies and have a great selection of art supplies. Weird, huh? But a good resource nonetheless.


While we’re talking about favorites, I have to include a picture of the best gelato place in town. Unfortunately it’s closed in this shot, but this is the place to go for great gelato! However, I just heard a terrible rumor that they’ll be closing for the winter soon, so I’ll have to stock up!


Shopping is really fun here with the quaint little stores that sell unique items and doing your shopping is more like an outing. In this picture the red doors on the left is the local “fruterria”, where they sell fresh fruit and produce and lots of other random items. The shop is run by a really sweet older lady and her daughter. The older woman is wonderful! She wears a house coat all the time and when you take your items up to the register she reads each item back to you as she rings them up and then once again as she goes over it with you reviewing the receipt. It’s really a good way to practice Italian! Two more new friends to add to the list! On the right of the fruterria, in the arched doorway is another nice bar/café, run by the lovely Michela, that has a nice patio where I often go to read and study while enjoying cappuccinos and the valley views below.


Here’s the inside of the wonderful little fruterria. She sells all kinds of good stuff.


This is the view of the valley from the patio next to the fruterria and cafe. It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it?


Of course we have clusters of Italian Cypress trees everywhere. A Tuscan town wouldn’t be complete without them.


Here’s another nice image of the valley, though this one was taken from our school courtyard.


The valley surrounding the town is full of agriculture. The primary crops appear to be sunflowers (for oil), olives (for oil & fruit), grapes (for wine), and tobacco (though I haven’t seen any but have heard they do grow it here).

The olive groves are just beautiful with their silvery green leaves. Just now the olives are starting to turn purple. The harvest will take place about one month from now.


And, of course, the vineyards! There are some really nice wine producers here in the area and one that we love and drink often who lives and works right here in town. The vineyard name is La Pievuccia and is run by the Papini family. Their wine isn’t fancy but it’s very good and very affordable, hence a local favorite.


And one more view, just for art’s sake.


Back into town now, there’s a beautiful fortress, around 700 years old, that was also once grounds of ancient Etruscan ruins. The tower of the fortress is the second tower of town. Here’s a photo of part of the ruins.


And here’s a photo of the fortress tower.


On the other side of life in our little town is the “Garden Underground.” It’s a local night hot spot where all the locals and students gather to imbibe and party. Some a little too heavily! Of course I’d NEVER do that! (Wink, wink!) The Garden Underground sits in a park just outside the city walls and is open only during the summer. In fact, it closed just about 1 week ago. In the autumn and winter the owner opens up a second location called the “Velvet Underground” which is painfully close to our dorm house. I said painfully because I can hear the music and the people until about 3am! Ear plugs come in very handy some nights.


A really beautiful feature of this region is the Italian Stone Pines. They’re everywhere here and they smell wonderfully. They stand about 40 feet tall with trunks about 18 inches in diameter.


Our dorm and school sit about half way up the hill, so in order to get to the main Corso you have to walk up. This is the street just across from our dorm that leads to the main Corso. The town is full of these wonderful, old, steep streets lined with beautiful rock work.


This is a nice image of just your ordinary street in our little town.


Here’s a close up of the beautiful rock work and masonry you see in the buildings here.


Castiglion Fiorentino is filled with these wonderful narrow views between the beautiful, old buildings. I love the white linen shirt hanging to dry in the far back left. You see laundry hanging out to dry everywhere. It’s really quite pretty!


A nice view through the arched entrance to a walkway. These little roads are pedestrian only (as only a dirt bike or Jeep could make it up them!) and they lead to people’s homes and apartments.


Here’s a beautiful view with a bit of the valley in the background.


And because you know I’m into details, I had to throw in this picture of this wonderful old wooden door. All the stores, homes and shops here have wonderful, old, unique doorways.


And that concludes our walk through Castiglion Fiorentino. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry we didn’t get to spend more time at the Garden Underground bar! Shortly I’ll post more stories and photos on my trials and tribulations of living in Tuscany. Until then…