Chianti Hotel - Tuscany Resort - Country Hotel in Chianti - Siena countryside holidays

Just 50 km from the Hotel Casolare le Terre Rosse, there is an enchanted place, where history, nature and magic come together: the Abbey of San Galgano.

Located in Località San Galgano in Chiusdino in the province of Siena, the Abbey is now deconsecrated and the synonymy with the legendary story "The Sword in the Rock" also makes it fascinating. In fact, about fifty meters higher than the abbey, it is possible to find a chapel which houses one of the most mysterious relics of the entire Tuscany region: the sword of San Galgano.

Legend has it that, during one night, the Archangel Michael appeared in Galgano to guide him through a dark path, to help him reach the Montesiepi hill, where he was then welcomed by 12 Apostles in a circular temple. The knight interpreted this as a divine sign, so much so that he then decided to make that place his hermit seat. So here is that Galgano deliberately abandons his knight's robes by sticking his sword into a rock, so as to generate a cross. Immediately after the saint's death in 1181, the Rotonda or the Hermitage of Montesiepi was built here, consecrated in 1185. Montesiepi is one of the many places where it is believed that the Holy Grail, the shape of the Rotonda di Montesiepi, is also buried. it resembles that of an overturned cup.

To make the place even more special is the fact that the famous myth of the sword in the stone seems to have originated in Tuscany and was subsequently exported to France. There are many coincidences including: the specific episode of the sword extracted from the stone enters the Arthurian saga 20 years after the death of San Galgano. Among the knights of the Round Table there was one called Galvano, a name very similar to that of San Galgano. The Troubadours, who brought Arthurian legends to Europe, found patronage above all at the court of Aquitaine. William X of Aquitaine, also a troubadour, became a hermit in Tuscany after a pilgrimage. resemblance to the Breton saga of King Arthur. There have been many investigations, researches and studies on the sword of Galgano and it seems to have been forged in 1170.

All this suggests that the myth of the sword in the stone was born in our region of Tuscany and for this reason a series of scientific investigations are proceeding on the Rotonda with Georadar and on the sword.

The Abbey is a place that must absolutely be visited in order to fully savor its historical and legendary scent.