Colle Alta

Colle Alta is the well-preserved medieval section of Colle di Val d’Elsa and sits on a ridge. I say “medieval” (500-1400A.D.); I guess, technically, it began in the medieval but didn’t really take off until late-Medieval/early Renaissance. You can see in the map (in the “Apt.” post) that the old part of town is long and narrow. You can also see in the “Apt.” post that Colle Alta hovers above our apartment. Although it’s not Florence or Siena, Susan and I think Colle is beautiful and has its own charm. And waking up every morning and looking up at a place like Colle Alta is one of the main reasons we are here. The following is a collection of street scenes and perspectives of Colle Alta from our daily walks. A note on photography- I don’t expect much argument when I say that I’m not a photographer. So, to compensate for the lack of quality, I have adopted the quantity strategy. I figure that this is a blog so the images are not taking forever to download and taking up space on your hard drive.

We finish our morning cappuccino at Caffe Garibaldi and head up to Colle Alta.

The walk up to Colle Alta.
We pass the Pinocchio Fountain (now dry). Carlo Collodi was a seminary student in Colle prior to writing The Adventures of Pinocchio. Supposedly, this is where he got the puppet’s name.
They sure knew how to build a “wall” in the Middle Ages.
Main gate at west end of Colle Alta- suitably Medieval.
During our 2010 trip, a group of us ate pizza in this park while we watched a World Cup match on a TV strapped to one of these trees.
That’s the park shown above tucked in on the left.
I like this because you can see the location of a previous door- no attempt to hide it.
Edge of Colle Alta.
Medieval towns could have many of these towers. Their height was correlated with the owners’ wealth. Mostly, they didn’t last. But wait till we get to San Gimignano.
“New” Colle di Val d’Elsa from Colle Alta.
That’s all until we take another walk.

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