Villa Pontebello

Tällaisia aarteita saattaa löytää mitä vaatimattomimman näköisistä museoista.

Tämä liittyy oleellisesti Dan Brownin kirjan Da Vinci koodin loppuratkaisuihin.

Albero d'oro
In this room there is a glass case containing the "Albero D'Oro, or "Albero della Vita" or "Albero di Lucignano", as it is variously known. This is a reliquary of the l4th-l5thc. originally from the Church of S. Francesco. Twelve branches spread out from the central trunk which rests on a three-tiered Gothic reliquary, in the shape of a tempietto. On the branches are small coral twigs which represent the Blood of Christ, and decorated leaves with at their tips small glazed panels.

Kultainen puu.

Tässä huoneessa on lasikaapissa useilla eri nimillä tunnettu: "Albero D'Oro" (kultapuu) tai "Albero della Vita" (elämänpuu) tai "Albero di Lucignano" (Lucignanon puu).
Pyhäinjäänös 1400 - 1500 luvulta.
Alunperin S. Francescon kirkosta.
Rungosta lähtevät kaksitoista oksaa kuvaavat Kristuksen sukupuuta ja syntyperää.


	Valtuustosalin vasen seinä	Valtuustosalin oikea seinä

Kansallispäivän juhla kunnantalon ja museon edessä.

Vappukulkue menossa sisään kaupunkiin läntisestä portista.

The history of Lucignano

Lucignano, a small suburb in southern Tuscany, is one of the most extraordinary examples of medieval urbanism because of its elliptical plant with concentric rings.
Walking down its roads gives the sense of a pleasant game through a tangled labyrinth that is resolved finally when you arrive in the higher area of the town, where there are Palazzo Pretorio, the Church of S. Francis and the Church of Collegiata.
Its plant is developed through an interesting spatial and functional articulation, between the "rich street" (Borgo ricco), now Via Matteotti looking South and bright and ample where the residential buildings built by the nobility rise and "poor street", now Via Roma (called Corsica) looking north, northwest where smaller houses rise, characterised by poor buildings and built by the lower classes of the town.
The nice geographical position of Lucignano (414 mt. o.s.l.), in Valdichiana and on the road between Siena and Arezzo, has made it strategically important during the centuries and has marked the history as medieval castle strongly contended between its bordering territories.
For about three centuries, from 1200 to 1500, Lucignano suffered continuous passages of jurisdiction between Siena, Arezzo Firenze and Perugia, which gave to Lucignano the possibility to adopt its own coat of arms (nowadays still adopted) of the Winged Griffon, to which a star was added to point out that the place were on a hill.
The name "Lucignano" derives probably from a Roman castrum founded by the consul Licinio of the homonym family, become Lucinianum after the conquer from Lucio Silla in the I c. b.C.; besides important archaeological finds of etruscan era discovered in several places, are important witnesses of the presence of people even in that period.
Around 1200 the urbanistic organisation from which the actual plant was born begun and was finished in the XVI century and showed the top of the hill, where originally the castle was, turned into a centre of the political and religious power.
In 1300 under the domination of the sienese government the jobs of fortification were completed with the completion of the town walls and of the three doors (1371): Porta S.Giusto, Porta S.Giovanni and Porta Murata, moreover the Fortress with its two towers was built.
With the passage of Lucignano under the Medici's, in 1554, some important urbanistic interventions were made, like the beginning of the construction of the fortress, attributed to Bernard Puccini, the sanctuary of the Madonna della Querce, attributed to Vasari and built out of the historical centre (1568) the monastery of Cappuccini (1580 ca.) the churches of Misericordia (1582) and the Collegiata (1594).
Nowadays the country maintains its charm of ancient suburb that has preserved a calm and serene image where the agricultural traditions and the artisans offer an interesting range of products; the appreciated extravergine olive oil, the honey, the production and restoration of furniture, the jobs of carving, the production of ceramic, the traditional workmanship of the serene stone and travertine, the production of high quality clothes, thanks to the ability and the experience of prepared professional people.