Discover Staggia: City Walls, Rocca and Sacred Art

Staggia combines a compact medieval townscape with art, sacred history and routes for cultural and cycling interests. Particularly characteristic are the well-preserved stone city walls that surround the village today and are bounded to the northeast by the Rocca di Staggia. Those looking for a place with a clearly recognizable historical character for a trip to Tuscany will find several different starting points here for planning their days.

Rocca and City Walls

The Rocca di Staggia is open daily. However, access is only possible with a guided tour and following a mandatory reservation. This regulation determines the form of the visit and should be taken into account when planning a stay in Staggia. The city walls themselves are interrupted by 11 towers. Six towers have a square ground plan, while the others are pentagonal. The walls visible today, with their irregular polygonal layout, date back to the Florentine expansion at the beginning of the 15th century. This means that the fortification should not be viewed merely as an individual attraction: Its towers, the course of the city walls and the location of the Rocca convey different aspects of the same local history. The Rocca also lies on the Via Francigena, thereby connecting Staggia with a historic pilgrimage route.

Churches and Art in Staggia

The church of Santa Maria Assunta has Romanesque origins and was extensively restored at the beginning of the 20th century. Inside, there is a collection of sacred art. This collection provides a condensed overview of the history of Staggia's strategically important fortress and of the repeated conflicts between Siena and Florence. It thus complements the view of the walls and towers with the political and religious context of the town. Next to the Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta is the Museo Pala del Pollaiolo. Antonio del Pollaiolo's painting “Comunione mistica di Santa Maria Maddalena” is housed there. For a stay combining architecture, local history and art, several distinct themes are therefore available within Staggia itself. The town's religious heritage is also tied to specific buildings. The 15th-century church of the Misericordia stands next to the parish church in Staggia. Near the Rocca di Staggia, the Edicola di Maria preserves a venerated image of Maria Regina dei Cieli. In 1881, Domenico and his sisters Marri removed the image from the old Porta Fiorentina. Marquis Ippolito Venturi Cinori then arranged for it to be kept in the tabernacle of the Edicola di Maria.

Cycling Routes and Orientation

Staggia is also connected to several described cycling routes. The Fondovalle Poggiobonizio route connects Bellavista with Staggia Senese and branches there into two routes: One leads toward Castellina Scalo and ends in Monteriggioni, while the other ends in Abbadia Isola. In addition, a completed section of the cycle path leads from the village of La Magione to Staggia Senese. For orientation when approaching the area, it is also important to note that the SR 2 variant completely bypasses the settlement of Staggia. If you would like to compare other town profiles, you can also view Talciona.

For the overarching travel overview: Poggibonsi.