Sovicille, Italian comune
Sovicille is a small town in the Province of Siena perched on gentle hills in central Tuscany, with an oval shape and old stone structures. It is surrounded by fifteenth-century walls and contains narrow cobblestone streets, tower houses, numerous small churches, and the seventeenth-century Palazzo Pretorio.
In the twelfth century Sovicille was a castle belonging to the Bishop of Siena and later became a disputed borderland between Siena and Volterra. During the sixteenth century it became a fief of the Medici family, which then held power over the region.
The name Sovicille reflects its medieval past as a borderland settlement between rival powers. Today the town and its scattered hamlets contain numerous small Romanesque churches and farmsteads that reveal how residents have lived and worshipped here for centuries.
The town is easily explored on foot with narrow streets leading uphill to the center. The surrounding countryside is ideal for walking or cycling through rolling hills dotted with fields and forests.
Nearby is the Ethnographic Museum of the Forest which displays how forests shaped the work and life of local people over many centuries. This unusual collection tells an often overlooked story of rural livelihood in Tuscany.
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