Buildings and Roads
Locanda dell'Amorosa - Sinalunga - Siena - Tuscany - Italy
Of great importance for the study of the urban architecture of the Amorosa are two cabrei (a sort of land registry maps): both (private collections) contain a plant of the village. The one that goes back to the beginning of the eighteenth century also contains an extremely interesting view in perspective of the village, even if only on the north side.
The cabreo of the end of the eighteenth century shows the plan and a very detailed description of what the various buildings were used for, and indicates the owners. With the aid of the older cabreo it is possible to identify the strada dei monti, which followed a different route to the present one, and which was, presumably, the original road connecting the consular road, the Cassia, to Abbadia a Sicille, as is proved by the toponym via della Selce, a few hundred meters from the Amorosa's stradone, which leads to the Santarello where the Roman road passed.
The via dei Monti passed by the centre of the village (and this was so until a few decades ago) and then ran through the whole valley of the stream called Doccia, passing by the Valdimolino mill. For as long as anyone can remember, after a few hundred meters the road broke up into two sections, the right one leading to Le Capanne and the left one to Segavene. The due segments came together again shortly after, halfway up the hill, and then climbed the hill to Abbadia a Sicille and Petroio towards the important Abbey of Monte Amiata.
It is hard to say whether the two sections coexisted in ancient times too or if they are merely due to chance, since neither is better than the other. In an undefined period this route was rebuilt and the part from below the farmhouse to Abbadia a Sicille, the segment that we have just described that passed through Valdimolino, was abandoned in favor of the other, apparently smoother, that follows the incline dividing the Doccia valley from the Galegno valley.
The old Valdimolino mill was closed because it was surpassed by those of the Santarello, Poggio Martino and the Rotone, and turned into a farmhouse in relatively recent times. Probably at the time of the new plan of the route, the mill was still functioning, and therefore this was taken into consideration for commercial reasons, because otherwise it is not clear why the existing road (which by the way still exists) was not used, that is the one that from the Amorosa, through Le Vignacce and Scopetello, leads to Poggio al Mare, very near which is the meeting point with the new route.
Recently the road has been submitted to more adjustments concerning the carriageway and its course, of which the most important is the final one eliminating the passage through the Amorosa. The present route goes around the “Fattoria” on the Doccia side; on the contrary the old one, coming from the hills, passed inside, went through the tower gate and then turned left towards Albergo, joining the state road that from Torrita leads to Sinalunga.
The cabreo of the end of the eighteenth century shows how the ownership of the land and the buildings of the “Fattoria” were divided between the Piccolomini and Pannilini families. The former owned the central tower and some buildings on the north side, the latter had all the rest including the owner's villa, situated next to the tower gate.