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The winery that produces the wine Chianti Classico operates within the walls of the Castello di Volpaia, a fortified village of medieval origin. The first document in which the village was clearly mentioned was written at Cintoia, another small village about south of Florence, on April 21, 1172. It notes that the brothers Franculus and Galfredus da Cintoia, after having obtained the consent of their father and of "Liquiritia, uxor Franculi" (wife of Franculus), have obtained a loan of 28 silver pounds from Spinello da Montegrossoli. Their possessions, situated in the "court and castle of Vulpaio," were offered as security for repayment of the loan. The document was published by L. Pagliai in che Regesta Chartarum Italiae (page 217). ==The origins== The castle was probably constructed in the 10th century, when others were being built in the upper valley of the Pesa River. It perches on the ridge of one of a series of hills stretching from the Badia (Abbey) of Montemuro toward Radda. Posted on the very spine of the hill separating two small valleys formed by tributaries of the Pesa, it could be defended easily. The choice of site is evidence of the basic insecurity of feudal society. In Volpaia's case, the siting of the castle had a more specific significance, for it was constructed in a frontier area between Florentine and Sienese territories. From the political point of view, the fortified village, along with the nearby Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, was considered by the end of the 11th century to be within the jurisdiction of Florence. Any uncertainties on that point were dissipated early in the second half of the following century when the district became a dependent territory of Florence. It was at that time that the Republics of Florence and Siena first marked out their common border. When Florence in 1250 organized its possessions, creating the autonomous jurisdictions of the "Leghe", Volpaia was placed within the district of the Lega del Chianti among the people of the "Terzo" of Radda in Chianti. The political arrangement, in turn, determined the territorial organization of the Church and the layout of the region's network of roads. Volpaia was incorporated in the diocese of Fiesole and the village-castle's church, dedicated to St. Lawrence the Martyr, was dependent on the Chapel of Santa Maria Novella. The chapel was an important hub in the Chianti highway system. A road that began at the little community clustered around the walls of the chapel and passed by the Castello di Volpaia connected the upper valleys of the Pesa and Arno. That route was responsible for the construction at Volpaia in the 15th century of a hospice where pilgrims could find shelter. The road descended to the floor of the Val di Pesa, where some traces of its path are still visible today. The route then climbed the mountains again in the direction of Albola. From that point, it was an easy climb to the ridge of the mountains separating Chianti from the upper Valdarno. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Volpaia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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