Hello dearest friends,
It's a tremendous pleasure to be back writing here. This morning, I woke up very inspired, and unfortunately, I couldn't share my post with you yesterday, so I'm doing it today. I want to talk to you again about the villages of Tuscany. This idea came to me because from time to time, I come across photos I had taken, and maybe I had even made some notes to remember this place.
So today, I want to talk to you about a beautiful place I discovered, again in the province of Siena, just a few kilometers from the beautiful Siena itself. This place has a somewhat funny name, we can say. It's called Scrofiano, situated on the hill of Val di Chiana, founded many centuries ago. It is a beautiful environment of beauty and tranquility, a classic Tuscan village.
This village probably had Lombard origins. In reality, according to some documents that have been found, important noble families lived here, part of the famous Republic of Siena, which, I think, I've already talked to you about, in contrast to the more famous Republic of Florence. As you can see from the photos, this village still preserves the medieval urban structure today, with the Cassero tower, the municipal palace, and the Collegiate Church of San Biagio.
Unfortunately, this beautiful village was surrounded by defensive walls that were destroyed in 1550 when this territory came under Florence. I took my usual solitary walk this time because my friend had gone to run an errand in a nearby town. I must say that here, too, the residents are very few, but from this position, from this village, you could see a beautiful panorama.
I have to say that it is always a beautiful emotion to stroll through these cobblestone streets. It may seem to you that they all look a bit the same; I have shared many photos of other villages, but in reality, every house, every street, every passage always has something different, probably making it unique compared to other villages.
Like many other places, this one is experiencing depopulation, which for some people may not be a negative thing. Being able to live in these places where history has been lived in tranquility, I think, is still a positive thing. Unfortunately, I didn't find anyone on the streets to exchange a few words with and understand how life goes on here or what traditions there are in these parts. I only discovered that on February 3rd, they celebrate the feast of the patron saint, San Biagio.
I almost forgot, probably the name Scrofiano, I hypothesized, could derive from "Scrofa," which is practically the female pig because almost certainly, once upon a time, they raised pigs in these parts. So, this practice of pig farming might have given the name to the village, but unfortunately, I have no confirmation because I didn't have the opportunity to talk to people, and to be honest, I couldn't find any information even on the internet.
In conclusion, I can say that this was also a beautiful discovery for me, and to think that there are still many parts of Tuscany to visit, so I can only imagine how many more villages I have yet to discover. And, in my opinion, this is super exciting.
Thank you for reading, as always. I wish you a wonderful day, and see you soon!