If you have found a luxury villa in Florence and are looking to delve into, and explore, some of the beautiful Tuscan countryside around the city and if you are interested in abandoned places and history, then you should probably head to Semifonte. Located in the province of Florence, within the modern day comune of Barberino Val d'Elsa, Semifonte was once a grand fortified city that was built during the 12th century. If was destroyed in 1202 in a siege during conflict with Florence and little remains today as the peace treaty brokered with Florence required surviving inhabitants to demolish their own city and prevented rebuilding on the site. In fact, the stones used to build Barberino Val d'Elsa were taken from the destroyed city and repurposed, leaving very little of the city behind today.
However, in the 16th century, some rebuilding did take place on the site, despite the earlier agreements, but it was only a chapel: the lovely Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo. Built on the site of Semifonte according to plans by Santi di Tito in 1597, it is surmounted by a dome that is a one-eighth scale replica of Brunelleschi's dome on the cathedral in Florence and, as such, reasserts the presence and power of Florence over the area from its prominent position overlooking the surrounding landscape. Commissioned by Giovani Battista Capponi, a pious and charitable man who was the Canon of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, the chapel was only constructed after he wrote in supplication to Ferdinando I, asking to build the oratory on the site on which building had long since been prohibited.
Incredibly pretty, ringed by a line of trees and in a dominant position, with views overlooking the surrounding landscape, this lovely little church is one of those randomly appearing gems that one can find themselves stumbling across while exploring the region and an utterly picturesque corner of Tuscany. Just find a luxury villa in Tuscany and come see it for yourself.
Incredibly pretty, ringed by a line of trees and in a dominant position, with views overlooking the surrounding landscape, this lovely little church is one of those randomly appearing gems that one can find themselves stumbling across while exploring the region and an utterly picturesque corner of Tuscany. Just find a luxury villa in Tuscany and come see it for yourself.
Photo credit: Vignaccia76 / CC BY-SA 3.0