Tuscany trip #4: 1st of May - San Galgano

Friday May 9, 2008 at 08:42AM

After the tour in Massa Marittima documented in my previous post, I had another little tour with my family, with a visit to the Archeologic Museum, documented in this album.

After that we decided to have the traditional 1st of May picnic in Valpiana, near Massa Marittima, where the catering was organized by CGIL, the main Italian Trade Union.

In the afternoon we went near Siena to visit the Montesiepi Hermitage and the San Galgano Abbey. These places have a legendary history: Galgano, a former violent knight, met two times Michael Archangel, who brought him to the Montesiepi Hermitage. Unable to find some wood to make a cross, Galgano planted his sword in the stone, where you can see it. The similarity with the Chrétien de Troyes cycle of King Arthur and the Round Table Knights is amazing. You can find more about the legend here and about the places here.

This is the current state of the Hermitage and of the Sword:

In my opinion the more interesting photographic subject are the San Galgano Abbey Ruins, down the Montesiepi Hill:

You can find a lot of pics about these locations inside this album.

After that we returned to Massa Marittima to visit the Carapax Center, a very important European Center for the defense of the Turtles, where you can find also lots of Storks, but it was too late: the Turtles were sleeping and I took only some shots: www.ipernity.com/doc/robertoballerini/album/64638

Then we returned to Massa Marittima, to make a little tour of the Città Nuova (New City), the oldest part of the town (don't ask me why the oldest is called new and the newest is called old...), avery interesting location for pics in the setting sun.