January 2024

Tuesday 16 January 2024

The Crystal Museum in Colle di Val d'Elsa reopens 2024

Colle di Val d'Elsa is a town of 20,000 people located above the valley of the river Elsa on the route of the ancient Via Francigena, the mediaeval highway frequented by pilgrims and merchants travelling to Rome from Canterbury and elsewhere in northern Europe.

The main gate of Colle di Val d'Elsa

The Crystal Museum in Colle di Val d'Elsa opened in 2001 and is the only one of its kind in Italy. After being closed for some time, the Crystal Museum has recently re-opened.

The museum is located underground in the space once occupied by one of the furnaces of the 19 C Cristallerie e Vetrerie Schmidt and former the Boschi glass factory, a driving force of the economy of Colle di Valle d'Elsa from the 1920s and the early 1950s.

Crystal glass museum of Colle di Val d'Elsa

The exhibition starts with the display of some finds from the Middle Ages that can be attributed to the production of the 'gambassini', glassworks present in Colle di Val d'Elsa since at least 1331.

The different sections of the museum reconstruct the path taken by the local glass industry since 1820, the year the first furnace was installed. In that year the glassmaker Francesco Mathis opened a 'crystal' factory in Piano, near the church of Sant'Agostino. The business changed hands and Giovan Battista Schmidt took over production. The latter became known in Italy for the high quality and purity of the white glass and the attention paid to finishing the articles through grinding and carving techniques.

Colle di Val d'Elsa crystal

Lead crystal, discovered in 1963, marked a major turning point that characterised the entire second half of the 20 C, making Colle di Val d'Elsa known throughout the world as the 'City of Crystal'. Works of high-level craftsmanship, creations by famous designers as well as simple tableware have led the Colle di Val d'Elsa to produce up to 95% of Italian crystal and 15% of world crystal. The museum's itinerary, in the new layout of 2024, places the emphasis on those who made this development possible.

More about Colle di Val d'Elsa.

Visiting Colle di Val d'Elsa.

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Author: Anna Maria Baldini

Sunday 14 January 2024

Pieve di San Cresci

The Italian word "pieve" means "parish church" in English, and the pievi of Chianti are in many ways a similar phenomenon to the ubiquitous Norman churches of England. They were built in large numbers during the period of rapid population growth that took place in Tuscany at the end of the Dark Age (the Early Mediaeval period), from roughly the year 950 onward, and they are dotted, often in ruins, all over the region.

Pieve di San Cresci - the parish church

Today, I want to talk about the Pieve di San Cresci which is thought to be one of the oldest pievi in Chianti. The nearby Pieve di San Pietro a Sillano might be older. The latter is mentioned in scrolls dating from the year 884 held at the nearby Abbey of Passignano. The Pieve di San Cresci is referred to in a document dated 963 which is held in the same library. A stone, carved in Longobard style, was found embedded in the wall of the nave during restoration, and this suggests that the Pieve di San Cresci was built on the site of a Longobard villa, perhaps incorporating part of the original structure.

The Pieve di San Cresci

The Pieve di San Cresci is located across the valley of the Becherale torrent from the fortified village of Montefioralle, about 2 km from Greve in Chianti, in the middle of the Chianti Classico wine zone. In fact, although Montefioralle houses the ancient church S. Stefano, rebuilt in the 17 C and 18 C, the Pieve of San Cresci is the original parish church of Montefioralle. The church is well worth a visit and can be reached easily by car or on foot from Greve along the road that passes by Villa Zano.

The interior of the church was completely rebuilt in Baroque style. However, part of the facade belongs to the original Romanesque church. The very photogenic lower part consists of two mullioned windows and is decorated with a dichromic motif in the archivolts.

The facade of the Pieve di San Cresci

Pieve di San Cresci - the winery

It's very common in Tuscany and especially in Chianti to see secular structures built onto churches (and also onto former military structures such as watch towers). The Pieve of San Cresci is no exception. The home of the Ballini family, wine makers here for at least six generations, is built onto the Pieve di San Cresci, and their winery, formerly Podere San Cresci but now named after the church, occupies cellars that were once a part of the church.

Pieve di San Cresci wines

Listen to me, my dear intelligent and discerning readers! The red wines of Pieve di San Cresci winery are outstanding, even in a wine zone famous for its excellent wines. If you will be in the area of Greve in Chianti, I strongly recommend that you phone Pieve di San Cresci winery and make an appointment to taste their wines and maybe even pay a visit to the wine cellars. You won't regret it! They make a range of red wines,including of course Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione (the new top-level denomination for Chianti wines), plus some very good Indicazione Geografica Tipica wines which have this designation because of their original grape composition, not because they are lesser wines.

Contact details and directionss for Pieve di San Cresci winery

More about Greve in Chianti.