9 minute read
Teatro dei Varii 17. The Alley 18. Palazzo dei Priori
from ASK ME COLLE
by matteobensi
31. Baios Square
Walking along the Borgo di Santa Caterina towards Via Gracco del Secco, we come to Piazza Baios, perhaps named after Bartolomeo Guidotti, known as Captain Baiosso, who lived at the end of the 16th century and belonged to one of the oldest families in Colle di Val d’Elsa. From the square you can gain access to Via dell’Amore and Via del Refe Nero where you can admire the tower structure of the medieval residential and merchant edifices that make for one of the most suggestive corners of the village and perhaps the most ancient centre of Colle di Val d’Elsa. These buildings, with their two-colour vestment in terracotta and limestone, typical of Volterra, have the characteristic horseshoe arch in terracotta, that recalls the Pisan Romanesque style.
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33. ‘Untitled’, Marisa Merz
Marisa Merz debuted in 1966 in Turin with sculptures made of aluminum foils. For her participation in the 2002 edition of Arte all’Arte, she decided to work on this water tank , which resembles a military small fort that is protecting something precious inside. She changed the wood door into a copper door, a metal the artist often used. The door reflects sunbeams, and it has become a city highlight. It symbolically underlines the passage way from what is visible to the invisible, from what we can see without close scrutiny to what requires a more careful observation.
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32. Torrione
This is a bulwark built during the reconstruction of the perimeter fortifications of the Castello by the Florentine architects Giuliano da Sangallo, Cecca and Francione. The structure has cylindrical shape, wider at the base with just one entry. There are low openings where the cannons were place. It is made of red bricks and a stone belt, that is a little higher than the half of the structure and is topped with a small pointed structure (an obelisk or pinnacle). At the beginning of 1600 it was used as a water tank, the first storage of drinking water for the population, and it was made part of the medieval aqueduct. The tank today hosts an installation of contemporary art, a copper door by the Italian artist Marisa Merz.
34. The convent of St. Francis
The construction of the Convent of St. Francis dates to the first half of the 13th century, when Pope Gregory IX with a Papal Bull entrusted the prior of the Dominicans of Siena to bless the first stone of the buildings. Dating back to 1229 this makes the convent one of the first Franciscan establishments in Tuscany. Today the convent appears with a simple façade on the outside while the inside which develops along a longitudinal plan shows signs of restoration and modernization. Pointed arche openings recall the Gothic style of the building It was built here when the message of the Saint arrived also in Colle di Val d’Elsa during the 1220s. The gothic building is submerged in green with its bell profile, the two-toned walls and the cloisters with precious sinopites of frescoes dated to the beginning of 1300; inside there are late gothic works dated to the late 1500 and 1700. The Convent is connected to the district of St. Catherine through a bridge whose vaults have become offices of the UMoCA (Under Museum of Temporary Art) since 2001. UMoCA was an expositive space designed with the help of the Chinese artist Cai GuoQiang to host temporary exhibitions like the works of the American artist Kiki Smith. The Under Museum of Contemporary Art was a strictly tied to the natural, historic and cultural context of the city and it tried to build a dialogue with the citizens.
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35. Porta Nuova
Porta Nuova (also known as Porta Volterrana or Porta Salis, a name reminding the importance of salt trade) is one of the gates that gave access to the medieval village of Colle Val d’Elsa. To the pilgrim arriving on the road from Volterra the sight of the magnificent and imposing Gate, with its large cylindrical towers, must have appeared as a symbol of beauty and importance of the town. The Volterra Gate was rebuilt, together with the new city walls, by the Florentine architects Cecca, Francione and Giuliano da San Gallo, instead of the more backward Selvapiana that was destroyed by the Sienese during the siege of 1479. The gate, with its two truncated conical towers represented the central role of Colle di Val d’Elsa in the war in which Florence and its allies waged against Siena.
36. Palazzo San Lorenzo 37. San Pietro Museum
This palace was inaugurated in 1635 as a healthcare facility, commissioned by the Usimbardi family. They were a very powerful and influential family, in fact they gave the first bishop to Colle di Val d’Elsa, Usimbardo Usimbradi. Moreover, the family decided to earmark a more appropriate hospital for the civic ascent. In 1638, following the wishes of the Usimbardi, the hospital was enlarged to assist the lower classes and it was equipped with a pharmaceutical dispensary that provided medicines free of charge to those most in need. Thanks to a donation in 1641, from a certain Bartolommea known as “La Lombarda”, the facility was once more enlarged. Noteworthy, regarding the history of the San Lorenzo Hospital, the decision taken by the grand duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1789, to further enlarge widen the healthcare facility is commemorated by a plaque placed atop of the main entrance. The building, as time passed, underwent various renovations. Particularly significant is the one dating back to 1950-70, including the amplification of the internal spaces whereas the chapel was moved and rebuilt in an area behind the hospital. Opposite Palazzo San Lorenzo there is the San Pietro Museum, which houses a small treasure that introduces people to the history of Colle di Val d’Elsa. San Pietro museum’s collection is a combination of works of the Civic Museum, the Diocesean Museum, the conservatory of San Pietro, and a collection of works by Walter Fusi and Romano Bilenchi. The San Pietro Museum is part of the monumental complex of the Augustinian monastery, built in 1604 according to the wishes of Pietro Usimbardi. This building later became a conservatory after the suppression of this religious order by Pietro Leopoldo Grand duke of Tuscany. It was a school before finally becoming a museum. The exhibition retraces the history of Colle through important works of art in a continuous dialogue between religion and the civic ambitions typical of the Medieval communes. The visit begins on the first floor with exhibition of sacred works of art and then proceeds to rooms dedicated to civic collections from the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Walter Fusi and Antonio Salvetti, two painters from Colle. The itinerary concludes with a section dedicated to Romano Bilenchi, a writer and intellectual from Colle, whose collection was given to the city of Colle Val d’Elsa by his wife Maria Ferrara.
38. Il Palazzone
The Palazzone was designed by the Bolognese urban planner Filippo Buriani in 1886 and built about three years later. The building is characterized by three protruding bodies and the elevation of the buildings are characterized by differing heights. The façade was designed by Antonio Salvetti in 1894. Noteworthy are two reliefs depicting the coat of arms of the city of Colle and the allegory “Intelligence that meditates”. It was the home of a vocational school specializing in iron glass manufacturing. Today it hosts the Technical Institute for Renewable Energies (CREA- Centro di Ricerca Energia ed Ambiente).
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Usimbardo Usimbardi
Usimbardo Usimbardi was born in Colle di Val d’Elsa in 1552 and became the first bishop of the city as soon as it became a diocese in 1592. As an educated young man Usimbardo enjoyed Ferdinando I de’ Medici’ friendship. Thanks to it he first went to Rome, where he entered the clergy and then to Florence where he was made Secretary of State. The fame of an intellectual man and the privileged relationship with the prince granted him, in 1589, a canonicate in the metropolitan church of Florence. Pope Clement VIII’s papal bull of the 5th June 1592 made Colle a diocese and at the same time a grand ducal decree named it first “city”and then noble city. Usimbardo Usimbardi was then appointed first bishop of Colle. To strengthen the local church, Usimbardo put the whole diocese under the protection of the saints John Baptist (protector of Florence), Faustino and Giovita (already patrons of the parish church in Elsa) and gave special attention to the saints’ cult. With a solemn procession he moved into the cathedral the relics of the Benedectine abbey of Santa Maria a Conèo. He also promoted a special devotion to San Marziale, bishop of Limoges and disciple of pope Saint Peter, and made him the new patron saint of the city.In addition, he kept alive the strong devotion of the people of Colle towards the relic of the Sacred Nail. He died of a fever in 1612, at the age of 60 and was buried by the altar of the Most Holy Sacrament inside the cathedral.
Acknowledgments
This publication would not have been possible without the collaboration of so many people with different skills but the same enthusiasm.
First of all, we would like to thank all the students who over the years collected, studied and translated the contents that they themselves, as Ambassadors of Art, conveyed to the visitors.
We are also grateful to the teachers who gradually joined the project and enriched it with their knowledge and competence..
Thanks to the Pro Loco of Colle di Val d’Elsa which has supported this project since its beginning
We will be forever indebted with Matteo Valeri not only for the careful work of graphic design. Thank you for understanding the magmatic world of ‘Ask Me Colle’ and giving it this extraordinary allure.
Finally, our warmest thanks go to the several managers of our school who have always encouraged the development of this project over the years even in the most difficult moments
The images and texts used in this guide are produced by the Ask Me Colle team of teachers and students. The image on pp. 26 and 27 are by Mario Maccantelli.
This work was produced to be used exclusively for free educational and informative purposes.
If you own the copyright of any image or content or would like to report other copyright issues, you can send an email to askmecolle@gmail.com.
Ask Me Colle Team