Castello di Bibbione

Built by the Cadolingi of Montecascioli, the Bibbione Castle is documented in ancient manuscripts since 997 with the name of Castrum Bibionis. Equipped with a wall, which in the past served as the last defense of its inhabitants, the Castle dominates a medieval village and ancient houses located along the slope of the hill, whose lands reach the underlying Via Cassia and the river Pesa. The foundation of the castle dates back to the ninth century, the construction was completed in the year 1000, while the first stone and stone cores of the farmhouses date back to the second half of the thirteenth century. In the Renaissance, the battlements were removed and the fortification was transformed into a country residence. A particularity of the Castle is the underground passage that winds for hundreds of meters up to the plain of the river. This secret passage, certainly used during the sieges for supplies, was explored only in its first section. From 1124, the new owners of the lands, the Buondelmonti, restored the ancient sentinel in ruins. And so Bibbione became one of the four Buondelmonti Castles, connected to each other and forming a quadrilateral to defend the Valle del Pesa: Castello di Bibbione, Castello di Montefiridolfi, that of Pergolato and that of S. Andrea a Fabbrica. The Buondelmonti also built the small church of Santa Maria between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries near the castle walls. And in the year 1142, they inaugurated the shelter of San Jacopo dei Calzaiuoli for the pilgrims. In 1469, the property was sold to Guido Sforza Aldobrandeschi.

It was 1511 when Niccolò Machiavelli bought the Castello di Bibbione to make it a hunting lodge. The Machiavelli remained in possession of the whole of Bibbione until 1727, when the last of the family died, Francesco Machiavelli, who left the cousin Giovanni Battista Rangoni, nobleman from Modena, descendent of the Machiavelli family, who inherited the Casato and the arms of the Machiavelli assuming the name Rangoni Machiavelli. The Bibbione complex has been bound together since 1913, and therefore under the protection of the Superintendency of the Environmental and Architectural Heritage of Florence and Pistoia. Still of the family, mrs. Antonella Rangoni Machiavelli personally took care of the restoration of the Castle and the village started in 1985.

The apartments are fourteen, almost all heated by a fireplace: each with its own personality, they share the characteristic of being furnished in traditional Tuscan style, the "brand" in the hospitality world of this region. They therefore have valuable antiques, romantic wrought-iron beds, original tiled and terracotta tiles, sought-after objects and furnishings, and warm-colored kilim rugs. One of the apartments is located in the castle and in some walls has preserved the exposed stone walls. The villa Il Poggio is divided into two independent apartments and benefits from a private swimming pool, park and gym.

Staying in these farmhouses also means being in touch with that spirit of love for the land and traditions that animates the life of the farm, which has an area of ​​one hundred hectares and produces extra virgin olive oil, Chianti Classico and Vin Santo.