the castle gate with the tower above the arch, the walls and the shops along the street

Italy · Toscana · Historic villages

Monteriggioni

a thirteenth century castle still whole, fourteen towers above the Sienese hills

1 stopwhere to park

5 sightsto see

1 eventseasonal

October 2025checked

Monteriggioni is a thirteenth century castle that has come down whole: an ellipse of walls some 570 metres round, fourteen towers, two gates and a handful of houses inside. Dante names it in the Inferno, where he compares the towers to giants leaning over the rim of the pit, and since then the outline on the hill has not changed. Half a day is enough, and the best of that time is spent on the sentry walk, with the Chianti on one side and the Valdelsa on the other.

Sleeping

Stops and overnight stays

One service area only, on the Cassia road below the walls, with the village ten minutes away on foot.

La Posta Area Sosta Camper

Via Cassia Nord 142, 53035 Monteriggioni (SI)

below the walls, less than ten minutes on foot from the old village. Level pitches with plenty of room to manoeuvre and a 220V post at every place. Hot showers are paid, 1 euro for 3.5 minutes. Filling, emptying and waste sorting run through an automated system with a self-service till at the entrance, which takes cards and cash. Lighting throughout, video surveillance, a play area for children, pets welcome. The tariffs given are those of 2025.

WaterGrey waterElectricityToiletsShowerWaste

8 euros for 12 hours, 16 euros for 24 hours, 4 euros for the service point alone

43.385907, 11.228065

Take me there

Getting around

From the La Posta area to the village is ten minutes on foot along a marked path, which follows a stretch of the Via Francigena and climbs gently between the hills
There is a shortcut, narrower and steeper: it suits neither pushchairs nor anyone who walks with difficulty
Inside the walls everything is done on foot: one main street, the square and a few lanes
The archaeological museum is at Abbadia Isola, a hamlet a short way from the castle
Siena is about twenty minutes away by road

Seeing

Sights

Five stops: the first three stand inside the ellipse of the walls, the last two lead outside, to Abbadia Isola and along the Via Francigena. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.

Camminamento sulle mura

Castle · paid entry · 43.38995, 11.22427

the circuit is an ellipse of some 570 metres, with fourteen rectangular towers of 6 by 4 metres, 15 metres high from their base, and a curtain wall two metres thick. Two gates gave access to the castle: the Porta Romea, called Franca, to the east towards Siena, and the Porta San Giovanni, called Fiorentina, to the west towards the Valdelsa. You climb to the sentry walks from the "Monteriggioni in Arme" exhibition trail, entrance at Piazza Dante Alighieri 23: four rooms telling the story of the castle from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century with reproductions of weapons, armour and siege engines, some of which can be worn. From the walkways you look south to the Chianti and north to the Valdelsa; on clear days the towers of San Gimignano stand out to the east. The southern stretch is the one that runs at the height of the towers. Monteriggioni was never taken by force: in 1269 it took in the Sienese defeated at Colle and the Florentines could not get in, in 1526 it held out for months against 2,500 men with heavy artillery, and it fell only in 1554, when captain Giovannino Zeti handed the keys to the enemy.

To be checked on the official website

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Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta

Church · 43.39009, 11.22360

it faces Piazza Dante Alighieri and is open every day. Built in the first half of the thirteenth century, it holds Romanesque and Gothic together as all Sienese architecture of the period does. The interior is sober and plain.

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Piazza Dante Alighieri

Square · free entry · 43.38984, 11.22371

once Piazza Roma, it is the centre of the village. Around it are restaurants, inns and shops selling Chianti Classico, cured meats, pecorino and crafts. It is not large, and the castle is still lived in: there are curtains at the windows and the voices in the lanes belong to the people who live there.

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Museo Archeologico di Abbadia Isola

Museum · paid entry · 43.38757, 11.19502

it stands in the nearby hamlet of Abbadia Isola and is included in the ticket for the walkways. It shows Etruscan and medieval finds from the area.

To be checked on the official website

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Via Francigena and the paths of the Montagnola Senese

Trail · free entry · 43.35263, 11.20291

the Via Francigena, the pilgrims' road to Rome, passes through Monteriggioni. From the Montagnola Senese a loop of 21 kilometres sets out, about five hours, of medium difficulty, between smaller villages and castles. The area can also be ridden by mountain bike and, in places, on horseback.

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When

Events

Festa Medievale

July

costumed processions, historical re-enactments, combat displays, street performers, jesters and musicians, taverns with medieval food and craft markets, with space and entertainment for children.

Remember

Useful tips

The Parcheggio Cipressino, at Strada Comunale di Monteriggioni 3 (43.388202, 11.225160), sits just before the main entrance: it is an ordinary paid car park, with nothing for motorhomes, good for a stop of a few hours. We do not treat it as a stop because we do not know whether sleeping is allowed: it should be asked on the spot
Allow at least half a day. The best season runs from April to October; in July there is the medieval festival, which fills the village
The streets of the castle have steps and uneven paving, hard going for anyone with reduced mobility
Monteriggioni tourist office, Piazza Dante Alighieri 23: telephone +39 0577 304834, info@monteriggioniturismo.it, monteriggioniturismo.it
The local cooking is that of the Montagnola Senese: pappardelle with wild boar, pici cacio e pepe, ribollita, Chianina steak, cinta senese cured meats, finocchiona, Tuscan ham
Siena is twenty minutes away and San Gimignano a little further: Monteriggioni does not have their museums, but it is seen in half a day and sits well in a round trip between the two

Monteriggioni · part two

and then?

What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.

Taste

The most typical dish, to cook again at home.

Ribollita · ingredients for 4 people

400 g of cannellini beans, dried or tinned
300 g of stale Tuscan bread, torn into pieces
400 g of black cabbage, or savoy, washed and torn by hand
2 medium carrots, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
1 medium onion, sliced
400 g of tinned peeled tomatoes, or 2 fresh tomatoes
300 g of other seasonal vegetables, courgettes, beetroot or spinach, optional
1 litre of vegetable stock or water
6 tablespoons of Tuscan extra virgin olive oil
salt and ground black pepper
garlic, optional

Method

if you use dried beans, soak them the night before and simmer them for an hour and a half to two hours, until tender; if you use tinned ones, keep the liquid
in a large pot heat 4 tablespoons of oil and soften the onion until it turns translucent
add the carrot and celery and let them take on flavour for five minutes, until they begin to release their juices
pour in the peeled tomatoes, break up the larger pieces and cook for another five minutes
add the hand torn black cabbage and the other vegetables: the cabbage releases a lot of water, which is normal
cover with the stock, bring to the boil and add the cooked beans with some of their liquid, the salt and the pepper
lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the soup is thick but still brothy
in the last ten minutes add the stale bread torn by hand and stir well: it partly dissolves and binds the soup; if it turns too thick, loosen it with hot water
taste, adjust the salt and pepper: you can serve at once, but the traditional recipe wants it to rest until the next day
ladle into bowls and finish with a thread of raw extra virgin oil, added off the heat so the aroma is not lost; if you like, rub a raw clove of garlic over a slice of Tuscan bread

60 more local recipes, region by region

Nearby

The next stop, ordered by driving time.

the cathedral's gable with the mosaic in the tympanum, lit by the low sun

Siena

Toscana · Cities of art · overnight stay · 20 km

19minutes

Distances and times by road, measured with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data.

Looking

Monteriggioni in photographs

6 shots from our visit. Tap one to see it large.

the stone well in the middle of the square, with two towers and the walkway behind

the Romanesque front of the parish church and its bell gable, with market stalls in front

the plaque set into the wall with the lines from the Inferno, "come in sulla cerchia tonda Monteriggion di torri si corona"

motorhomes and caravans lined up on the pitches of the service area, among the cypresses

the farmed hills, the cypresses and the farmsteads around Monteriggioni, with an olive tree in the foreground