Aiola Castle

A palace known as the Villa di Aiola, formerly known as the Aiola Castle, can be found next to Vagliagli in the Castelnuovo Berardenga municipality, 10 kilometres from Siena. It is advised to travel the old panoramic road from Vagliagli to Radda to get to the location.

The Aiola Castle, today known as Villa di Aiola, is situated close to Vagliagli in the Siena provincial municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga. The current villa is situated on the foundations of the same-named castle, which was used by the Sienese as an important defensive stronghold and designed to house a large garrison of troops.

When it belonged to the Siena-based Bellanti family in 1554, it successfully resisted the Marquis of Marignano's Florentine militia. It was protected by 25 soldiers and numerous local peasants behind walls that were more than 10 meters high. It didn't submit until the damage done by the artillery made it vulnerable.
The current villa was constructed on top of its ruins in the 17th century after it was no longer functional as a military fortification.

All that's left of the old castle is the south side's well-preserved quadrangular wall structure, which had four corner defense towers to break up the wallwalk and watch over the moats below. Only the towers on the northwest and northeast corners of the building are still largely intact on the inside and have their original wall surfaces. At the height of the walls, the other two towers are reduced in size.

Giovanni Malagodi, a senator for the Liberal Party and afterwards elected deputy in 1953, purchased the home in 1934 and converted it into a winery. Then, in 2012, a group of Russian businessmen purchased the villa. It now serves as a winery.

Text and Photos by Gabriele Ruffoli - La Terra e il Cielo