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 Located within the Val d'Orcia Heritage Park lies the castle and hamlet of COSONA. Surrounded by the 1200 acre home farm, Cosona Castle enjoys magnificent views over a picturesque hilly landscape decked with olive groves just south of Siena. The name "Cosona" derives from the Etruscan "Cusi-Kusunias", and in Langobard times the site had already developed into a large settlement. |
 The castle (this was the first time it was referred to by this term) was destroyed by the Orvietans in 1234. During the second half of the XIII th century, castle and lands were ruled over by the great patrician family of the Tolomeis, who happened to be in more than one circumstance, enemies of Siena. After the plot organised by this family in 1385, the Governement of the Sienese Republic ordered the castle to be taken and later (1983) to be destroyed.
The site however still belonged to the Tolomeis, who around 1400, had a fortified palace built near the ruins of the castle. In 1465 this was bought by Ferdinand I of Aragona, King of Naples, and in the same year re-sold to Cardinal Niccolò Forteguerri of Siena. Cosona has belonged to the same family ever since. At the beginning of last century, the palace underwent some restoration and re-workings, under the direction of architect Viligiardi to whom we owe the present arrangement. Of the castle's various annexes and appartenances, some have been recently restored and totally refurbished to create delightful independent accommodations. |
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