Chianti Tuscany Hotels

Villa Castrum: in the area of Barberino Val d’Elsa, on the summit of a hill, 310 metres above sea level there is a group of houses and a villa named “Castello di Cortine” (Castle of Cortine) dated 1037. The word “cortine” comes from neo-Latin; from the term “curtis” meaning court. Cortine, this very ancient Tuscan castle, stands among vineyards, olive groves and woods on the watershed of the Elsa and Pesa valleys. In medieval Age, Tuscany Cortine was an important meeting point between Florence and the Via Francigena for Rome.
The Villa is an admirable example of 14th century architecture from the “Lorenese” period prestigious exemple as the most famous Medici Villas from the fifteen hundreds; this beautiful building still has an ancient oil mill within. Scholars have established that the present church was restored in the eighteen hundreds and completed in 1850. The bell tower was completed in 1880.