Information and historical curios

The house of Domizio is located near the second castle of Lucolena, wich replaced the first one when it was a tower destroyed in 1302. There are several hypothesis on this place. The most reliable considers it a sacred wood dedicated to Lena, Lucus Lenae. Lena was the goddess of the temple dedicated to Vesta, that after the Roman conquest was transformed, to spite the Etruscan in a place of pleasure frequented above all by Roman legionaries marching on the Cassia road. This information is very important as it shifts the hypothesis of the foundation of Lucolena of thousand years. Or most simply the toponym Lucolena derives from the Latin adjective "luculentus" meaning place full of light and where it is pleasant to stay. Of this last awarding there is an indisputable witness: try first and then trust!! Many of the information above mentioned are derived from the book " Pievi Parrocchie e Castelli di Greve in Chianti" written by Carlo and Italo Baldini. Those historical news give new interest and further prestige to this village in the Chianti area. Who knows what else lies on the dusty shelves: it will be also up to the institutions to remove those news from the age-old oblivion. Dimezzano remained unchanged through the centuries, likely not tranformed by building speculations and this is itself a reason for visiting it. It can be considered a castle village because of the peculiar structure of the buildings composing it and the historiography involving it. The towers show clear signs of crumbles and thus make us think at the Edict of Giano della Bella against the Florentine magnates in 1290. Dimezzano is the toponym used in the documents of "Capitani di Parte Guelfa", sometimes called the Castle of Dimezzano. It finds its origins in the Latin word Domitius, a road used by the Etruscans running from Chiusi to Strada (ad Stratam) and probably to Pisa. A side lane crossed by the Arno river, where today is Bagno a Ripoli, reaching Fiesole, Marzabotto and Felsina up to the Etruscan dodecapoli in the north of Italy. Thus Dimezzano was one of the three towers built in the surroundings of Lucolena Castle; the other two were Torsoli ( turris solis: means tower of the sun) nowadays destroyed and Azzi, knocked down by Ubertini of Cortule (Gaville) in 1302. In the nearby church of San Cristoforo, also destroyed, was written the first known document mentioning Lucolena: it is a contract who Rachiberto, son of Azzo, wrote to renounce a piece of land of 12 "stiora" in favour of Azzo di Teuzzone, against three coins, in October 989 bc. Furthermore in the tower of Dimezzano were driven 3 arrows into the wall (also mentioned by Repetti) , bringing to our mind cruel fights during the Middle Ages. The points of those arrows have been found during the restoration work of the house of Domizio, immured under a serene stone's slab and today kept by the owner and undersigned. In Dimezzano is also visible an old Chapel still consecrated, dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie. Some of the information concerning Lucolena are contained in the documents of "Capitani di Parte Guelfa", kept in the Historical Record Office of Florence. The undersigned, sensitive to such historical value, has bound the necessary maintenance of the buildings in the castle-village to the restoration of this millenary tradition. Interesting to point out that recently was found a mention of "Locanda da Mario o Maris", on the way that links La Pescina to Dimezzano, which could probably be the Etruscan road called by Repetti " Di Sopprato". Following those ancient connections the " Locanda Borgo Antico" has become in the years a reality and seems to follow the traces of the past.
The Chianti wine
It is impossible not to spend some words on the Chianti wine! This noble "red" is the result of different vineyards skilfully raised by the vine-dresser thanks to a long experience handed on from father to son. The same ancient method is also used nowadays. Thanks to those choices the wine is enriched by smells and flavours resulting from lands that the nature has rewarded with generosity. In order to appreciate the good way of living handed down by the Etruscans, the Romans and who lived before them, its worth to visit Greve, Castellina, Radda, Gaiole and the tower of San Gimignano. Let's imagine for a minute our ancestors, lying on the triclinio, next to its beautiful Tanaquilla while testing the Sangiovese wine (probably called differently at that time). Worth of a longer visit is also Volterra, where in the Guarnacci Museum you loose the sense of time running by! While observing "L'ombra" you may feel to be in front of something real and unreal at the same time.The spirit of the Etruscan who modelled it is still present and seems to be the ideal connection with the seed of the symbolic culture that has been transmitted, for example, to the "Giubbe Rosse" of Florence.

Adriano Marunti