Not just wine: The Jerusalem of Tuscany

Among the many hidden gems that our beloved territory can offer, the so-called Jerusalem of San Vivaldo certainly deserves a special place.

This Roman Catholic convent, run by the Franciscan friars, is located in the municipality of Montaione, in the province of Florence, immersed in the wonderful landscape of the Tuscan countryside, rich in suggestions that make the journey to reach it even more pleasant.

But what is the Jerusalem of San Vivaldo and why this name?

San Vivaldo was a hermit (perhaps a Franciscan) who lived in solitude and penance in the area that today houses the complex between the end of the 1200s and the early 1300s.

Following his death and at the beginning of his cult, the Franciscan friars decided to build the nucleus of the current complex.

The particularity that makes this place absolutely unique (as well as national monument) was born in 1500 from an idea of the friars who decided to faithfully reproduce in this area the topography and the holy places of Jerusalem, including the Mount of Olives, the valley of Giosafat, the temple esplanade and other places dear to Christian veneration.

The original project included the creation of 34 chapels that should have represented in all respects (albeit symbolically)  a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which in reality was financially extremely difficult  and dangerous for many believers.

The particular nature of the land in addition to the various small episodes of earthquake that have occurred over the centuries today give us the opportunity to visit a total of seventeen chapels of great historical, artistic, symbolic, and even naturalistic, given the roughness of the place that at the beginning, however, it was a hermitage. All of them are adorned by plastic groups in terracotta, modeled by several plasticers connected to the workshops of Giovanni della Robbia and Benedetto Buglioni, with the specialist of modeling Agnolo di Polo, trained in the workshop of Verrocchio.

An excursion to this particular place projects us into another of the great achievements that the Tuscan people have realized with passion and ingenuity, with devotion and strength.

Let yourself be kidnapped for a few hours by the magic of this place, let yourself be enchanted by the nature that surrounds you throughout the journey, immerse yourself in the simple but suggestive atmospheres of the Tuscan Middle Ages, and surprise once again the variety of suggestions that our beloved land can give .

We at Corte di Valle are at your disposal, as always, to help you immerse yourself in this wonderful land.