11 July 2010

The original installation of Geggiano Villa dates back to 1530. Around 1768, in the occasion of the wedding of Anton Domenico Bianchi Bandinelli with Cecilia Chigi, Malavolti widow, the building was completely transformed in a grand villa with a garden surrounded by a wall and with a greenery theatre. Vittorio Alfi eri, who stayed for short periods at the villa, acted some of his tragedies just in the greenery theatre. In its splendour times the villa has been frequented by Montale, Saba, Guttuso and Stendhal. Recently the villa gave hospitality to the set of the movie "Stealing beauty".

The Pontignano Certosa was founded by Bindo Falcone, nephew of Cardinal Riccardo Petroni, around the half of 1.300. We can only see few traces of the original monastery, as it has been completely rebuilt in the second half of the sixteenth century, after a fi re destroyed most of it. The complex was a rectangular plan articulated, like in Certosa-churches traditional iconography, in three zones: the first was assigned to monks and had twelve cells around the big cloister, the second one was formed by the church and the coenoby, the third was assigned to the lay brothers. The monastic complex has been bought in 1959 by the University of Siena and is used today for study meetings and conventions. The church of Certosa is situated in the centre of a monastery complex with a facade overlooking the cloister of obedience or the converted. Two thirds of the site is occupied by an area destined for monarchs where wooden sculptured plaques (known as stalli, usually mounted behind the choir stalls) created in 1590 by Domenico Atticciati, are hung. The inside is interesting due to the presence of a large alfresco which covers the walls and ceilings and develops an iconographic cycle dating from 1579 with the scenes (Saint Brunone who receives the present from Saint Peter and a joyous Saint Brunone on the entrance wall) painted by Stefano Cassiani. On the walls, there are the stories of Saint Peter and of Saint Brunone separated by fi gures of saints, evangelists and priests of the church; on the ceilings, you will see stories of the Virgin, the Passion of Christ and Saint John the Baptist. The paintings are generally attributed to Poccetti but they were also managed by artists in his circle, Orazio Porta and the artists from Siena, Alessandro Casolani and Vincenzo Rustici The monastery complex was acquired in 1959 by the University of Siena and is now used for courses and conventions.