Vertine Castle

The keep.	A tower of the walls next to the south gate.

The medieval suburb of Vertine rise on a hill of 357 meters high above the town of Gaiole in Chianti. From Florence it can be reached leaving the motorway A1 to the exit 'Valdarno' and following from Montevarchi the indications for Cavriglia-Gaiole. After around twenty kilometers, and after having passed under the rests of the Castle of Montegrossi, we will find the signals that will bring to us under the walls of Vertine.

The castle, or better the little walled town, of Vertine rises to the extreme north-oriental layer of the Chianti area in the middle of a series of relief, called   Chianti's Mountains, that constitute the watershed with the Valdarno Superiore. This zone is particularly rich of castles because it corresponds to the ancient territory of the medieval 'Chianti League', Florentine rampart at the borders with the territory of Siena.

The mighty keep dominate the north gate.

In the zone was always been strong the feudal presence and the castle of Vertine, as the near Montegrossi and Brolio, was remembered in public acts long before the year 1000. Vertine was also the castle of the Chianti that reached the greatest consistence as walled town. Already in the 13th century the castle was in the hands of the Ricasoli, Florentine commissioners of the zone and, at testimony of its great importance, was also residence of the same feudal in more than an occasion. Thanks to a series of circumstances Vertine wasn't never at the center of war events as sieges or fighting, so the castle reached us without traces of the destruction and reconstruction that were the cause of the modification of many other medieval settlements. In XV° century the fortifications suffered a restoration and an expansion but it doesn't modified radically its aspect. Vertine is still today surrounded by its almost intact walled enclosure and on the southern front rise a splendid rectangular tower that had the function of keep: in my opinion this is one of the most beautiful and better preserved of all Tuscany.

The north gate.

On the left side of the keep the is opened the north gate, once twin of the opposite partially disappeared south gate, still today the only two entries of the suburb. The arc of the south gate is gone lost but we are still able to notice the tower that defended it. The splendid worked stones used for the construction of the walls and the keep, that   we can also notice in the inside buildings, give to Vertine a typical medieval image and lets have the visitor that crosses its narrow streets a contact with the reality of the ancient times.