How to reach
The castle can be reached following the speedway Siena-Florence up to the exit 'Monteriggioni', from here follow the Cassia Road (SR2) up to the junction for Sovicille. Turn into the first road on the right (there are no indications) and after about 2 km. you'll find on your left the agricultural estate of the "Chiocciola".
History
The Monteriggioni neighborhood, an outpost of Sienese sovereignty, is home to a number of medieval strongholds, several of which still stand today. One of these is the Chiocciola Castle. The presence of so many castles was caused by two main factors: first, the proximity to the Francigena Road and all of its ramifications, and second, the border with the hostile Florence, which served as a long-time theater of conflicts and other military actions.
Paleolithic people lived on the land where the complex now stands, and a cavern from this time period can still be found in the castle's underground chambers today and is in fine condition. Although the main fortification appears to have its roots in an Etruscan settlement, history dates its birth as a vassal castle of the Lord of the nearby fortified town of Staggia in the Middle Ages.
The Chiocciola climbed to the war chronicles in the 16th century during the war between Siena and Florence, 1553–1555. The feudal families of the counts Brancadori and then the Piccolomini d'Aragona ruled over the castle for many years. The castle, which is still in good condition today and is part of a vast agricultural estate that produces Chianti Putto wines, is made up of two main sections: a keep and a tall cylindrical tower that are both adorned with brick machicoulis.
One of these towers, which houses a lovely spiral staircase "with the form of a snail (chiocciola)," gives birth to the name of the small stronghold. The original gate of beaten iron from the 14th century is still there at the tower's entrance. In the years that followed, more structures rose up all around these impressively preserved remnants of the medieval castle. The castle is a private residence and center of a farm, visitable only from the outside.