| | Facilities within the Property |
 Poggio d'Oro extends over 10.000 sq.m. of park with tennis court and swimming pool (size 15 x 7,5 m) with large sun terrace, covered patio and night illumination. |
| Property Facilities Summary: | Barbecue | Child Friendly | Concierge Service | Groups Allowed | Ironing | Private Parking | Sun Terrace | Swimming Pool | Tennis Court | Ticket Reservation Service | | |
 Hicking trails just out of the property. Shopping facilities are in S.Donato in Poggio (1 mile away) where are a few small food shops, and in Poggibonsi (10 miles away) where is a huge shopping center. Nearest restaurants are in S.Donato and within short drive distance.
|
S.Donato in Poggio, 1 mile away, in the past was one of the principal fortified settlements of the zone. Worthy of the denomination castrum right from 1033, the castle was built high up on the hills separating the valleys of Val di Pesa and Val d'Elsa. The toponymy derives from the denomination of the church as registered in 989 with the name of S.Donato in loco Pocie. Pocie, and subsequently Poce or Poci, was therefore the name of the inhabited settlement, half of which was granted to the fief of the Guidi Counts by Enrico VI in 1901. In the XII century, the S.Donato in Poggio castle enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy and became a free council. In 1218, the castle was definitively subordinated to the Republic of Florence, thereby taking on a considerable strategic importance due to its position on the most direct route of the Strada Romana, the one that linked Florence with Siena. The Florentines and the Siennese concluded a peace treaty at S.Donato in 1255 and the Florentine army assembled in this castle prior to the battle of Montaperti in which they fought the Siennese. |
The Aretinian Ghibellines destroyed the medieval settlement in 1289. The only remains of the village fortifications from that period are perhaps the low part of the present-day municipal bell-tower. The magistrature, situated in the town square, now known as Piazza Malaspina, was decorated with a XV century fresco, which may still be viewed. The building was reconstructed in large part after damage suffered during the last war. On the other side of the square were the public cistern, which was rebuilt in 1867, and the castle church dating from the XIV century. The late Renaissance facade of the Ticci Palace (which later passed over to the Malaspina family) united the houses and stores to the north and west of the square. In the village outside the castle, there was a hospital for the poor run by the Augustinian monks, and subsequently run by the St. Maria della Neve confraternity. The early years of the XV century marked the decline of the village. This was due to the greater importance gained by another route of the Strada Romana, which led from Sambuca up to Morrocco and passed through Tavarnelle and Barberino to reach the large centres of the Val d'Elsa valley. |
| |
|