Radda / Chianti: Wine, History and Landscape

Radda / Chianti combines wine-making traditions, medieval traces, sacred art and routes through a landscape shaped by vineyards. If you are looking for a place where culture and regional features can be explored within a compact thematic area, you will find a wide variety of points of interest here: from the historic town centre and wine tastings to archaeological and scenic routes.

Wine as Part of the Town’s History

The importance of wine in Radda is not limited to the town’s present-day culture. On 14 May 1924, 33 winegrowers from the region founded the Consorzio per la Difesa del Vino Chianti e della sua Marca di Origine in Radda. The Casa del Chianti Classico offers an engaging introduction to Chianti Classico with a sensory tour. Guided wine tastings and a tasting menu in the former monastery are also offered there, combining food and wine. Another way to get to know wines from Radda is Radda nel Bicchiere. This initiative of the Pro Loco of Radda in Chianti offers tastings of wines from Radda together with local producers. The entire town offers visitors and wine tourists a wine tasting as part of the event. In this way, wine and local history can be encountered both in an institutional setting and as part of an event involving local producers.

Historic Traces in the Town Centre

Radda in Chianti has a long history. The existence of the town has been documented since the 9th century BC; recently discovered archaeological finds attest to its Etruscan origins. Radda in Chianti was also the former capital of the Lega del Chianti. The centre is dominated by the Palazzo del Podestà, dating from the 14th century. It is located on Piazza Ferrucci, the central square in the heart of the town. Following restoration and renovation, the Palazzo was officially reopened to the public in 2008 and is fully accessible. The historic areas include former prisons and exhibition rooms with original vaults and exposed stone walls. The churches also offer different points of emphasis. The Propositura di San Niccolò has a monumental Neo-Gothic façade designed by Carlo Coppedè in 1926. Santa Maria al Prato is a Romanesque church with a 15th-century altarpiece by Neri Di Bicci. It depicts the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. A walk through Radda also allows you to explore the paved lanes and gardens enclosed by dry-stone walls on foot. Traces of the medieval walls can be seen at Porta Valdarnese and Porta Fiorentina.

Archaeology, Sculptures and White Roads

The Poggio La Croce Archaeological Park is an open-air archaeological museum in an area of significant archaeological, historical, scenic and ecological value. It therefore complements the historic town centre with a place where different aspects of the landscape come together. The Sulle tracce di Leo Lionni trail offers an unusual cultural experience. It begins at Podere Pescinale in the municipality of Radda in Chianti and leads to unusual sculptures created by Leo Lionni. The permanent Eroica route covers a considerably broader scenic setting: it follows white roads through Chianti, across the Crete Senesi and as far as Val d’Orcia. The two routes therefore represent different ways of discovering the surroundings – one through art and sculptures, the other along a route through several types of landscape. For further orientation, you can also visit [Lucarelli](Lucarelli), [Castelvecchi](Castelvecchi) and [Castello Di Volpaia](Castello Di Volpaia). Other destinations to compare are [Castellina In Chianti](Castellina In Chianti), [Trequanda](Trequanda), [Monticiano](Monticiano), [Murlo](Murlo) and [Radicondoli](Radicondoli).

For the higher-level travel overview: Siena.