Civitella in Val di Chiana is located 15 ‘by car from Le Rime: Civitella is a small village overlooking the Val di Chiana and offers a breathtaking view of the entire valley. Civitella still preserves its medieval origins: the ruined tower, the main square, the remains of the walls that surround it.

In more recent times, Civitella is also remembered for the sad massacre of a large part of the population during the Second World War.

In the village we enter through the Sienese gate, the only one left. After the door you enter the network of streets including Via Martiri di Civitella. On the street overlooks the Palazzo Pretorio renovated of the fourteenth century, characterized by a portico. Even the other buildings have arcades that characterize the whole street. A Hall of Memory is also housed here, in memory of the ’44 Nazi massacre.

To the north we arrive in the beautiful piazza Alcide Lazzeri with the medieval cistern and the Church of Santa Maria Assunta erected in 1252. On its left we find the monument to the massacre. To the south, crossing Piazza Beccattini with the homonymous palace, you reach the castle, built in the eleventh century and surrounded by a solid wall with a mighty tower.

The castle, transformed by the Wehrmacht into its headquarters during the Nazi occupation, was semi-destroyed during an allied bombing in 1944. From its terraces there are ample views of the Val di Chiana and the Val d’Ambra.