Byways in southern Tuscany . ng to the river as it makesits way toward the Ombrone, past wood and height andfertile farm land as well as wastes of desert-like it was dotted with feudal strongholds, homes of theGhibelline barons whose fierce independence held out till,during the thirteenth century, it was gradually brokenby the Guelf spirit of the towns that by force or by guileovercame it. Many were the castles dismantled or de-stroyed at that time, but a few still exist to tell the storyof the past. Eleven miles to the east of Montalcino, high above theRiver Orcia where it makes it
Byways in southern Tuscany . ng to the river as it makesits way toward the Ombrone, past wood and height andfertile farm land as well as wastes of desert-like it was dotted with feudal strongholds, homes of theGhibelline barons whose fierce independence held out till,during the thirteenth century, it was gradually brokenby the Guelf spirit of the towns that by force or by guileovercame it. Many were the castles dismantled or de-stroyed at that time, but a few still exist to tell the storyof the past. Eleven miles to the east of Montalcino, high above theRiver Orcia where it makes its way through the deep gorgeit has cut in a spur of Monte Amiata, stand the remainsof three of these castles. On the right bank is the smallpicturesque fortress of Ripa dOrcia, on the left, RoccadOrcia (Rocca Tintinnano as it was earlier called), andhalf a mile from it the village of Castiglione dOrcia with acastle of its own. Owners of these castles were the Aldo-brandeschi, most powerful of all the feudal lords of this 122. Rocca dOrcia. BYWAYS IN SOUTHERN TUSCANY region, and longest to hold out against the growing powerof Siena. They possessed nearly all of southern Tuscany,a wild country at that time, difficult of access and sparselyinhabited; and robber barons as they were, they foundthemselves admirably placed in their eyries above theOrcia to command the great Via Francigena at this pointand lawlessly exact what they pleased from those whotraveled between Siena and Rome. Looking out overthis part of Tuscany from the parapet of Castiglione, itis difficult to realize that much of it was virtually unin-habitable in the thirteenth century. Unbroken woodscovered the slopes, while lakes and pools bristling withcanebrakes obstructed the valleys between. From thesummits above frowned the castles and against them nes-tled the villages, each with its bit of cultivation about lay the highroad, and it is easy to see how well itcould be controlled by feudal tyrants like the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecttuscany, bookyear1919
