The Farm: the history of Casalino18
“Casalino” is a place name that has meant “a piece of buildable land” since the Middle Ages. From the first glance at the walls of the farmhouse, a temporal stratification emerges, which has been preserved through the renovation of the building.
At the time of purchase by the current company Urpflanze in the autumn of 2019, Podere Casalino was overgrown with brambles and had been abandoned for several decades.
The renovation work was restoration-conservative, and the choices were in the direction of minimal intervention and uses of environmentally friendly materials, trying to enhance what was already there and in some cases opting for contemporary choices.
Even in the distribution of spaces, efforts were made to maintain the structure as it was originally.
Podere Casalino18 can be found on the maps of the 1765 Catasto Leopoldino wanted by Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the same one who completed the work of the Pian del Lago drainage canal, started by the Sienese nobleman Bindi Sergardi, who sees from memory the Pyramid, called not by chance Pyramid of the Grand Duke.
This monument is located less than ten minutes’ walk from Podere Casalino, along the Via Francigena.
La Pyramid is a stele placed at the mouth of the Grand Duke’s Canal, a 2173-meter-long canal, an engineering feat whose purpose was to drain the waters of the Pian del Lago, which stagnated for about 156 hectares and 3 meters in height and formed a perennial 93-hectare lake in dry periods, which gave its name to the entire plain.
The construction of the canal took place in the second half of the 1700s, mostly by Francesco Bindi Sergardi, and was perfected by Grand Duke Leopold of Lorraine.
Its main architectural features include brick construction with a “barrel vault” and a slightly sloping floor paved with stone. The name “Pyramid” comes from a stele placed at the entrance of the canal.
Podere Casalino18 is among the structures eligible for funding from the Region’s Project Protection and enhancement of rural architecture and landscape ..
The renovation of the Podere’s threshing floor is currently underway, which will become a rest area for the public, serving pilgrims of the Via Francigena.
The Francigena between the Podere Casalino, the Pyramid and the Grand Duke Canal.
The project proposes a renewed territorial use along the Sienese Via Francigena and promotes slow tourism, attentive to accessibility and the history of the place.
The farm
The farmhouse is part of an organic farm covering a total of 32 hectares, half of which are cultivated fields.
The farm planted an olive grove in the spring of 2022 and a second olive grove in the spring of 2023. It also has a small representative vineyard and an equally small vegetable garden.
This is a farm under construction. We hope, as early as next year, to have excellent organic products for sale.
