The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Riserva Naturale La Pietra

From Chiusdino, you can enjoy a magnificent and wide view of the green Val di Merse, a Tuscan territory made of wooded hills and clear rivers. From the panoramic terraces of the medieval village, your gaze sweeps over the valley below, where dense woods and the symbolic places of local history stand out.

Il Borgo di Ciciano is a hamlet of the municipality of Chiusdino, located in the province of Siena, in Tuscany. It is a characteristic hilly village immersed in the Colline Metallifere, known above all for its local traditions and its proximity to important historical and natural sites.

Loop starting from Monticiano (Si) by i'Lupo che cammina

The Great Abbey of San Galgano Construction of the Great Abbey downstream began only in 1220 (or 1218?). Construction work continued until 1268, when it was officially consecrated by the Bishop of Volterra, Alberto Solari. Then came a hundred years of great splendor until 1364, followed by a slow decline due to the unfortunate practice of Commenda.

Chiusdino is a wonderful medieval village located in the Merse Valley among the Metalliferous Hills. Its origins date back to the Lombard domination of Tuscany between 568 and 569. The town still retains its medieval appearance and some sections of the double city walls. It is also possible to find medieval houses, including the alleged house of San Galgano (Galgano Guidotti), where the saint is believed to have been born around 1150.

Among the bare naves of the Abbey of San Galgano (12th-13th century), where the sky replaces the vault, Helidon Xhixha raises a seven-meter steel cross. It is the heart of the "Jubilee of Light" project, conceived for the 2025 Jubilee and curated by Carlo Pizzichini: an exhibition that transforms one of the most emblematic places of medieval Italian spirituality into a space for contemporary reflection. The intervention by Xhixha – an Italian-Albanian artist known for his use of polished stainless steel and his ability to activate space through light – appears as an operation of visual and symbolic resonance. "Divine Light," the main work, is not just a monumental cross. It is an optical device that captures and reflects the sun, amplifying its luminous energy in an environment already charged with spirituality. In an architectural context where absence—the missing roof—has for centuries been an invitation to look upward, Xhixha inserts a symbol that reflects and transfigures the world. The choice of site is not accidental: the legend of San Galgano, the knight who plunged his sword into the stone, renouncing war, is ideally linked to this contemporary cross, as a new icon of peace and transcendence. Steel, a shiny, industrial material, replaces the stone of the past, but the gesture remains the same: suspending violence and seeking an interior dimension.

Built in the 13th century in Gothic style and dedicated to the saint from Chiusdino, today it is completely in ruins: only the walls remain standing, with the apse still in evidence, perfectly facing east, while on the upper part of the facade there are two pointed windows. The roof of the Abbey of San Galgano is no longer there today. The "official" version says that it deteriorated and then fell over the centuries, while an alternative version, according to some legend and according to others truth, states that it was originally made of lead, and was sold by Girolamo Vitelli in 1550. Whatever the truth behind the roof of the abbey, after some restoration attempts that went badly, at the end of the 18th century it was deconsecrated and left to the elements until the present day. The ruins of the Abbey of San Galgano, with its profile still intact and immersed in the Tuscan countryside, offer a truly incredible and particular view. In addition to the roof, the floor is also missing, which during the summer turns into a grassy blanket, while you can still see a transept with three naves and 4 chapels with cross vaults. Next to the Abbey of San Galgano there is the cloister, which was rebuilt at the beginning of the last century, using the original materials. Some accessory rooms are also very beautiful, which can also be visited with the entrance ticket to the abbey, including the chapter house, where the monks originally met to deliberate the main rules of the community, and the scriptorium, which was the place where the monks copied the manuscripts.

A great view of the surrounding mountains.