The Castle of Potentino rises in a secret valley on the slopes of Monte Amiata, one of the least known and most authentic corners of Tuscany. Of Etruscan foundation and medieval age, it is surrounded by vineyards, orchards and ancient olive trees, in the direction of the nearby Maremma. Wines and hospitality are the true jewels of this project that is more than a winery and a holiday resort.
Castello di Potentino History
The Castle of the Potentino is located outside Seggiano. The castle was built around the year one thousand as an ancient possession of the bishops of Chiusi, whose diocese extended, at the time, to the whole area of Mount Amiata. In the eleventh century there is the attestation that belonged to the Visconti di Campiglia. In the thirteenth century it came under Sienese control and belonged to the Bonsignori, Tolomei, Salimbeni and Bindi families. Later, its importance as a boundary fortress was declined, it was transformed into an elegant holiday resort and it was bought first by the Mignenellis and then by the Venturi family. Enrico Venturi, by testamentary disposition, donated it to the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena.
In 1600 it was bought by the Marquis Giovanni Battista Bourbon Del Monte who kept it for centuries and only in 1906 sold it to the Swiss citizen Hemmeler. Today the complex is the heirs of the British writer Graham Greene who turned it into a renowned farm.
The castle of the Potentino still presents its original medieval appearance, occupying two distinct areas; the first, more external, includes the various annexed rural buildings and leads to the second, more internal area, which is accessed through an arched door that opens up along a curtain wall with summit blackbirds.
The main area consists of the castle properly called L-shaped around a courtyard. The building, unlike the remaining complex, is in Renaissance style following the interventions made by the Sienese between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with the architraved access door surmounted by a noble coat of arms; on the roof there is a small bell gable. Beyond the main area there is a third well-defined area where there stood an Italian garden, now completely resized and modified.
At the castellano settlement, there is the noble chapel dedicated to Sant'Antonio da Padova. Today, the estate has been revitalized and is dedicated to the production of wine, grappa and oil thanks to the 4 hectare vineyard and a suggestive olive grove.