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Inhabitants in 1991: 1.444
 The
municipal territory of Monticiano extends for 109,45 square kilometres
in the hills of the valley of the river Merse. Feudal centre, then
Vicariate Seat.
The first sure news of the castle of Monticiano was in 1171, when
controlled by the local Lords the Lambardi, it was in fact submitted
to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Volterra, Ildebrando Pannocchieschi,
and confirmed to his successor Pagano in 1224 by Emperor Federico II.
But there were in time, also claims over Monticiano by the city
of Siena who by the middle of the 1200s considered it as part of
their own county and after the battle of Colle (1269) occupied
it with the army and in punishment for giving shelter to the exiling Ghibellini,
had the walls and the fort of Castelvecchio knocked down. Monticiano
was thus definitely subjected to the Siena municipality and in 1310
it became Vicariate Seat. In 1554 Monticiano passed under the Mediceo
government, but in 1629 it was offered in feudal by Ferdinando II
to Count Orso Pannocchieschi d’Elchi. Only in 1749 was the Lordship
of the Pannocchieschi terminated but they remained proprietors of large
portions of the land. During the resistance, Monticiano was chosen as
base for the organisation of the first Siena partisan nuclei
and became the operation zone of the Garibaldi brigade “Spartaco
Lavagnini”. Among the numerous acts of war, of particular importance
was the encounter between the partisans and the Germans on the night between
3 and 4 June 1944 in the town square.
Places to visit
S. Agostino, 1300s church with the interior remodelled in Baroque
style. In the adjacent ex convent are preserved 1400s frescoes. |
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford |
