About Santo Stefano Farm Stay, our Castiglion Fiorentino and Cortona apartments rental:
Santo Stefano is a young Biological Agricultural Company run by one family, situated in the splendid Valle di Chio, which produces with a lot of passion wines, vinsanto, passito, extravirgin olive oil, different types of honey and profumated dried aromatic herbs.
On the farm it is always possible to visit the wine cellar and the laboratories where the honey, and aromatic herbs are produced.
The owners live on the compound of the agricultural farm which consists of an antique farmhouse traded back to the 12th century.
The small houses for the guests were in the past shelters for the agricultural activity and are now wisely restructur! ated respecting the old traditional way of tuscan constructions.
Each appartement is equipped with kitchen, bathroom and an external private space from which one can enjoy an extraordinary view on the Valle di Chio with its antique medieval village of Castiglion Fiorentino and the Val di Chiana Aretina and Senese in the background.
When we were searching for a name for the picturesque and beautiful
Castiglion Fiorentino and Cortona apartment rental accommodation, we could not overlook the presence
nearby of the tombs of the Etruscan Princes. Inspired by the shape of
the semi-hemispherical tombs, we decided to call our inviting small
village offering accommodation in Castiglion Fiorentino and Cortona.
Our luxury accommodation in Castiglion Fiorentino and Cortona,
Tuscany belongs to the Bernardini family.
The Castiglion Fiorentino (Val di Chio in general) accommodation has three spacious apartments which
have been restored with extreme care, maintaining the original nature
of every architectural detail. All have kept their subtle
elegance, having been renovated with period antiques and tasteful
furnishings yet satisfying the needs of modern living.
Tuscan typical products from Cortona and Castiglion Fiorentino: the Valdcichiana and Val di Chio products
From our olive groves terrazzati with walls in stone to dry, of more the classic from Tuscany landscape, with olive trees of variety Moraiolo, Frantoio and Leccino we produce the Oil Biological Extravergine di Oliva. The premature collection of the hardly mature olives, molitura within 48 hours from the collection, maturation in steel containers and confezionamento in dark glass, guarantee the high quality of our product.
Our aprtaments accommodation offers our guests two types of activities
experiences: tracking, cooking courses and so.
"Agriturismo Santo Stefano" (for vacation in Castiglion Fiorentino and Cortona apartments Rental)
also has a large beautiful swimming pool with cabanas, large parking
area, and large relax room for meetings and party.
A BRIEF STORY OF CASTIGLION FIORENTINO
Castiglion Fiorentino lies at the centre of a triangle formed by important cities such as Florence, Siena and Perugia. Due to the overall infrastructure, town walls, and building architecture, for many years scholars considered the town to have been established in the late medieval time frame. More recent excavations, however, have found the remains of an Etruscan city wall (ca. 4th century B.C.) underneath the current Piazzale del Cassero, and have discovered the remains of an Etruscan temple under one of the town's churches, la chiesa di Sant'Angelo, which was built in the twelfth century.
Documents from the tenth century have referenced a town named "Castiglione" in the feudal property of the Marquis of the Saint Mary Mountain. During the eleventh century, the town became a part of the Diocesse of Arezzo.[4] From the twelfth century until about 1290, the town was known as Castiglion Aretino, and was closely associated with the nearby city of Arezzo. About 1290, the city of Arezzo was defeated by Florence, and Castiglion Aretino became part of the Florentine Republic. Arezzo and Siena joined forces against the Florentines in later years and reconquered Castiglion, which was then fortified under the direction of Bishop Guido Tarlati, Lord of Arezzo. Following Tarlati's death in 1336, Florence again gained control of Castiglion, until 1344,[4], when the city of Perugia gained control of the town, which was renamed Castiglione Perugino. In 1369 the townspeople revolted against the Perugians. and by 1384 the Florentines seized the town and bestowed its current name, Castiglione Fiorentino.
During the fifteenth century, Castiglion Fiorentino suffered from repeated outbreaks of the plague, blamed at the time on the marshy areas surrounding the city. At the dawn of the sixteenth century, Siena, led by Pietro Strozzi, gained control of the area, holding Castiglion Fiorentino unil 1654, when the Medicis of Florence again regained power over the region. For the next two hundred years, the Medici Grand Dukes ruled the city, until in 1765 the Lorena Dukes gained power. The Lorena family encourage the reclaimation of marshlands, leading to a period of economic and population growth for Castiglion Fiorentino.
From 1800 to 1814, the town was garrisoned by Napoleon's troops. Several years after that, the town joined the Tuscan Grand Dukedom, where they remained until 1861, when they were annexed to the Reign of Italy by King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoia.[4] Military activity during World War II damaged part of the town center as well as much of the surrounding countryside.
A BRIEF STORY OF CORTONA
A visit to Tuscany is a dream travel to most everyone. Tuscany as a
region is closely related to many crucial moments of the cultural
education of all Italians: the language, literature, history and arts.
Tuscany was the home for artists such as Piero della Francesca,
Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Luca Signorelli, Vasari, Raphael,
Cellini and many others. Beautiful art is on display everywhere, in
small towns, in the most humble of hamlets, in the countryside
sprinkled with abbeys, castles and villas. The beauty of nature which
quite often seems to reflect or anticipate the enchantment and
enthrallment of the countless masterpieces of art.
By residing in Cortona, it is possible to satisfy the needs of those
who wish to learn more about the richest and most precious artistic
treasures of the world.
The above is only one of the many definitions expressed by several
artists and scholars at the sight of this town, whose ancient origins
keep getting dated earlier and earlier with each new archaeological
discovery.
It is certain that Cortona was an Etruscan town that even today still
offers many important historical remains: the outer walls, the bronze
lamp from the 5th century BC, the majestic tombs of noble families with
the latest discovery, the Melone II of Sodo, dating back to the 7th
century BC. This is the only tomb from Etruria that shows decorated
sculptural elements.
Cortona, one of the most evolved medieval city-states, is full of pure
renaissance forms such as the Calcinaio church, Francesco di Georgio
Martini’s masterpiece. Cortona was the hometown to many famous
painters, from Luca Signorelli to Pietro Berrettini da Cortona to Gino
Severini.
The last little secret about Cortona: some ancient historians suggested
that Ulysses was buried here! It is only a legend, but what an
extraordinary one!