Borgo fortificato di Vertine

Vertine is a fortified hamlet in Chianti, with a near-oval circuit of walls, two gates and a rectangular keep enclosing a still-inhabited settlement.

Why it matters

A document of 1013 records Vertine as a castle. Its walls, gates and street pattern survive together, preserving the form of a small medieval fortified community within a lived-in village.

What to notice

The rectangular keep stands beside the principal gate, whose round arch survives above an older brick segment. A second gate at the opposite end has lost its arch, though the defensive tower remains identifiable. The wall circuit follows an almost elliptical course, with gaps near the parish church and southern gate. Inside, San Bartolomeo was rebuilt in a neo-Romanesque style in the 1930s.

Context and history

The first reliable written record of Vertine's castle dates to 1013. In 1049 a landowner gave his share of the castle and court to the Abbey of Coltibuono, which administered an agricultural estate there. The Ricasoli appear in records from 1202 and controlled the village from the thirteenth century. They used it as a residence during their administration of Chianti. Fortifications were restored and expanded in the sixteenth century without changing the settlement's basic form. Vertine is now a hamlet of Gaiole in Chianti.