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The Fennel Fields a Little Scene Setting

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The Fennel Fields a Little Scene Setting A HISTORY OF BORGO FINOCCHIETO by Judy Canton, with side notes by Mary Grace Hicks The Fennel Fields Finocchieto is a charming name. Finocchio is sweet fennel and finocchieto means fennel orchard or fennel fields, just as frutto is fruit and frutteto means orchard. Sweet fennel grows wild all over Tuscany in fields, hedgerows, at roadsides, along the railway, and in gardens. Finocchieto was no doubt known locally for the wild fennel plants growing around the slopes of Bibbiano. It has certainly had the name since 1318, and maybe for much longer. To this day, when the wild fennel seeds ripen every year at the end of August, gatherers of all types and both sexes go to work collecting the seeds that will stud the delicious local salami, finocchiona, with flavor. It has been eaten for centuries, usually on thick slices of unsalted bread and accompanied with a glass of red wine. The farm at Finocchieto, like many Tuscan country properties no longer in agricultural use, has found a new lease on life. Its name, however, will link it to the old way of life and the tradition of eating slices of finocchiona with bread and wine will remind those who enjoy its stone walls and quiet, beautiful setting of the thousands who have already appreciated the same delights in its long history. A Little Scene Setting The part of Italy where Finocchieto was built has a long prehistory; - 228 - a long period of settlement before we have evidence of the farm’s existence. Navigable rivers and valleys were of fundamental importance in the siting of early settlements and in spreading cultural influence. Thus, the banks of the Ombrone and Arbia rivers were host to a number of Paleolithic to Iron Age sites. It was during the centuries when the Etruscans flourished (about 720 BC to the Augustan settlement of 27 BC in which Etruria became the seventh region of Roman Italy), that the combination of navigable rivers with favorable geological conditions first came into their own. The region around the upper course of the Ombrone is particularly fertile and offers deposits of metal ores, extensive woods for the charcoal production necessary for smelting ovens, and quarries for building stone. The Etruscans built, traded, and farmed in these lands. Excavations over 100 years ago unearthed a robbed-out chambered tomb at nearby CASTELNUOVO TANCREDI, but recent work has uncovered a number of richly furnished aristocratic chambered tombs from the second half of the 7th century BC and well into the 6th, as well as the residence of at least one local potentate at Murlo. The Etruscan palace at Murlo is on a site significantly named Piano del Tesoro (plateau of treasure) on the hill of Poggio Civitate. The original 7th century princely dwelling in the Orientalizing style was lost to fire and replaced with a more monumental, decorative palace of the Archaic style in the 6th BC. In the third quarter of the 6th century the palace was mysteriously and deliberately dismantled, buried, and abandoned in an earth bank in 525 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the parting Etruscans may have then moved to Chiusi. Archaeologists are still working on understanding why the Etruscans chose to abandon the site, but the strange circumstances and requisite remains from two separate periods of Etruscan building are illuminating on their techniques and practices. The site also gives us exciting insights into the lives and minds of the Etruscan - 229 - people and the landscape in which they lived. The second residence at Poggio Civitate formed a huge monumental square (60m x 62m) with watchtowers at two corners. The interior courtyard has three sides of colonnaded porches. The high roofs were magnificently adorned with molded tile of local terracotta, painted with friezes and affixed water spouts in the shapes of female heads, lions, and rosettes. At least twenty three huge acroterial figures stood guard on the ridgepole of the roof, bearded male figures in broad brimmed “cowboy” hats and females in long skirts and sandals with upturned toes. Besides the human figures looking into the courtyard, some real and fantastical animals faced each other along the line of the ridge. The grandeur and detail of these figures is astonishing and their presence on the skyline must have jolted the imagination as they still have the power to do today. The friezes are also elaborate and significant, offering evidence of the far greater position in public and social life held by Etruscan women than in either Greek or Roman society. ◊ ◊ ◊ THE PEOPLE OF MURLO claim to be direct descendants of the Etruscan inhabitants of Poggio Civitate. A video offered to visitors at the town’s Museo Etrusco draws an ambiguous, though amusing visual connection with their alleged ancestors by morphing the faces of current residents into ones from terracotta sculpture and friezes. Watch as the owner of the local pizzeria pulls a pizza from the oven, smiling, and then freezes as his face blends into that of an Etruscan terracotta cowboy. Aside from this amusing section, the video is of poor quality and difficult to understand. I recommend skipping the first fifteen minutes to start at the section where a local walks you through the remains at Poggio Civitate, not open to visitors. Otherwise, the museum is large and accessible to non-Italian speakers. The rooms are clearly labeled by period and brief descriptions illuminate each style and its place in history. Moreover, the town is a beautiful, quiet little spot and worthy - 230 - of a stop. MUSEO ETRUSCO, MURLO HOURS: APRIL—JUNE AND SEPTEMBER: 10 A.M.—1 P.M., 3—7 P.M., JULY / AUGUST: 10 A.M.—7 P.M., 9—11 P.M., MARCH AND OCTOBER: 10 A.M.—1 P.M., 3—5 P.M., NOVEMBER—FEBRUARY: 10 A.M.—1 P.M., CLOSED MONDAY CONTACT: 0577814099 ◊ ◊ ◊ Finocchieto was a medieval country farm, within the old hamlet of Bibbiano, itself part of the administrative district of Buonconvento, a medieval walled town in the province of Siena in southern Tuscany. Life at Finocchieto was based around agriculture, dedicated to the annual round of crops, although it was also closely interrelated with life in the hamlet, the town, and even that of the city-republic of Siena and the greater word because of its position on the VIA FRANCIGENA. Buonconvento owes its early existence to travel along this most important road of the medieval period as the primary route between northern Europe and the center of power in the Christian world, Rome. Founded in the late 12th century when travelers began to flow up and down the Via Francigena, Buonconvento controlled the crossing of the rivers Arbia and Ombrone and gained importance as a safe overnight stop and trading post, a day’s ride from Siena. By 1270 it was already the seat of office of the magistrate, called the podestà. ◊ ◊ ◊ - 231 - THE NAME BUONCONVENTO should not be directly translated to “good convent,” as we cognate-seekers might be apt to do. Rather, it refers to a safe meeting place or haven, using the old meaning of convento closer to the Latin conventus and the English “convention.” Its protective walls provided travelers and pilgrims with a retreat from the wide world. Thus, it is only fitting that Finocchieto in the comune of Buonconvento should come into its own as a gathering place for modern seekers of knowledge, beauty, and conviviality. ◊ ◊ ◊ Humble travelers, pilgrims, merchants, kings, and emperors all passed along the Via Francigena, trading goods and services with the Buonconventini. Inns and taverns, blacksmiths and stables were essential. Tailors, shopkeepers, and merchants likewise found plenty of need. In the 13th century the town on the river crossing became a burgus, gaining official town status, and began to flourish at the expense of the original stronghold, the castle at Percenna on the hill outside town. Some famous passers by wrote letters and kept diaries that reference travels through the area. As early as 1191 there is testimony of Philip Augustus King of France, that on his return from the 3rd crusade he stayed at the “mansione di Bon-couvent.” ◊ ◊ ◊ PUTTING BUONCONVENTO ON THE MAP: A little more than a century later Buonconvento was witness to the tragedy that marked the end of the power of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy. Henry VII, (Arrigo VII) Prince of Luxembourg and the Holy Roman Empire came to Italy seeking to unite Italy and Germany, pope and emperor. Dante Alighieri, the great poet, spurned by his own Florentines took up the cause and urged Henry to attack Florence. Henry preferred first to take Rome, doing so first before turning his attention to Florence. - 232 - After six weeks of siege, he still had not captured Florence. In failing health and spirit, he retreated to winter between Pisa and Poggibonsi. In August 1313 he struck south with the intention of taking Naples, arriving in Buonconvento on August 21. Here, he died three days later, worn out, or some say poisoned by communion wine. Thus ended the hopes of Dante and others who wished to see the alliance of the two great medieval powers, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope. ◊ ◊ ◊ As we can see, this small Tuscan town was indeed witness to important international events in its early years. However, it was not only in the Middle Ages that Buonconvento saw fame. Then, throughout the Renaissance and continuing to the coming of the railway, it was an important post on the great highway to Rome and a stopping point on the so-called Grand Tour. Patrician Sienese Families Enrich the Countryside The farm at Finocchieto did not just bask in the fame of travelers who passed through the town below or its growing importance as a trading post.
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