Sant’Angelo in Colle

On reaching the top of the hill where the village of S.Angelo is perched, it is difficult not to pause and survey the surrounding countryside. It is incredibly beautiful and this view cannot have changed much since 20 June 715. On that date Sancto Angelo Abollenis was the site of a meeting of two bishops who were debating the exact boundary between the diocese of Siena and Arezzo. The meeting was organised by request of King Liutprando in order to settle an ongoing dispute. 72 witnesses participated and one of these described S.Angelo as a settlement of hermits in fundo Sexta. No doubt this beautiful hamlet, that nowadays overlooks farmhouses and vineyards in Montalcino territory, in those days was simply a church built by some hermits at the top of the hill in the shade of the oaks that used to grow there.

Just a few centuries later, around 1200, Sant’Angelo in Colle was more or less its current size. A document from the Santa Maria della Scala hospital registers the taxes paid to the Republic of Siena. Various sources mention S.Angelo during the XIII° century, recounting, amongst other things, the construction of the “cassero” – the imposing watchtower that still stands and welcomes visitors who have climbed the hill to explore the village.

Fonterenza

The farmhouse is old. Documents from 1462 regarding the S.Angelo parish mention Fonterentia. Another document in 1621 records the taxes paid by Fonte Rentio to the parish. In a census on 12 December 1672 Fonterentia is mentioned again with a list of its inhabitants; Margarita, widow of Francesco Donzellini, their son Antonio, his wife Domenica and little Giovanmaria aged 2 years old.

From those years till the present day, many local families have lived in Fonterenza, and some of the current inhabitants of Sant’Angelo in Colle were born there.