The province of Siena and Neighbouring Florence

The old Pieve di San Felice, which was restored to its present day appearance between 1920 and 1930, retains some features of its original Romanesque design, the period in which many churches in Chianti were built. Noteworthy remains of the Medieval church include the round arch in the interior, and two marble columns of Roman origin. The church provides an enchanting vista amid the hamlet's lanes. The eighteenth-century Maddalena Chapel
	is also worthy of note. Borgo San Felice is at the centre of a region suffused in history and art: a jewel set between Siena, Florence and San Gimignano, in countryside considered for centuries to be the highest expression of Humanism. A few minutes from the hamlet and the visitor can admire views of Brolio Castle; 3 Km towards Castelnuovo are the medieval houses in Villa Sesta and San Gusmè.
The surrounding area contains a wealth of Romanesque churches and Chianti abbeys, including San Salvatore, the Pontignano Charterhouse, Santa Maria a Pacina and Meleto. Towns in Chianti, such as Castelnuovo Berardenga, Gaiole, Radda and Castellina are like jewels studded in a landscape dotted with numerous castles. A view of the bizzarre cityscape of Siena can be enjoyed. Siena cultivated the sublime art of Duccio di Buoninsegna, Ambrogio Lorenzetti and
<	Simone Martini, whose masterpieces can be seen in the Cathedral, Palazzo Pubblico and in the Piazza del Campo. Siena, which retains its Medieval appearance almost intact, is today, as in the past, divided into ‘contradas', vestiges of a jealously guarded Medieval urban organisation, that feeds civic pride through rivalry and competition, most notably in the ‘Palio'. Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Simone Martini also executed works in Chianti, which are now housed in the San Casciano museums.
The Elsa valley is also close at hand with the fourteenth-century houses of Colle, ‘the crystal town', Volterra, the towers and churches of San Gimignano and the walled village dear to Dante, Monteriggioni. Siena is also close to the Orcia valley, boasting the ideal Renaissance town of Pienza, an architectural delight, and the Romanesque San Quirico d'Orcia, with the beauty of the Horti Leonini, one of the finest
	examples of sixteenth-century garden architecture, offset by the bare countryside around the town. Florence, with its incomparable art treasures, is only one hour's drive from San Felice, through the magnificent Chianti hills.