History, land, traditions

Barottoli

Barottoli is an old farmhouse, dating back to the xii century, it’s surrounded by the marvelous crete senesi and it stands on a hill from which it dominates the entire surrounding valley: the landscape that is on display to “whomever looks” from its panoramic terrace always leaves one “speechless”.

Barottoli owes its name to a “Baroti” count of the “Scialenga” family; its origin is related to both the Scialenga family and to the Baroti Counts.
During the XI century, the Scialenghi, a noble faction, exercised their political and military power on a wide area of the sienese-aretine territory; from the xii century, following a series of dynastic struggles, the original nuclear family of the Scialenghi was split into various branches.
This event led to, by consequence, a fragmentation of their assets, thus some assets and territories of the Scialenghi were owned by a direct parental branch of theirs, the Baroti Counts.
During the following centuries, both the Baroti Counts and the subsequent Barottoli’s owners, made changes to the farmhouse structure for their personal interests, which the cottage still displays nowadays in a clear and unequivocal way.
For example, its massive structure, composed of a central core that extends into the east and west wings, and the beautiful tower that indicates how, during the feudal period, the building was used as a “small fortress” to control the surrounding territory.

From 1600 until 1800, the farmhouse was then inhabitated by big families, composed of up to 11 people that worked on the land and took care of the livestock: the residential use of Barottoli made sure that an outdoor brick-oven, a double arched balcony and a big indoor fireplace were built: these structures are still visibile and integrated into its beautiful and peculiar small fortress “shape”.

"Il pozzo di butto"

The hypogeum, the underground structure found and studied by the archaeologists dr. Brogi Francesco and drs. Rubegni Elisa, has the structure of a “pozzo di butto”, or waste disposal shaft, with vertical walls: this kind of underground cavity was already attested during the medioeval period and each house had one for the purpose of throwing away solid waste such as bones and inorganic material.
Among the graffiti found inside the “butto’s well” we can clearly see a human face and two B letters that probably recall the name of the place itself (Barottoli); there are also some drawings that are difficult to interpret, such as some wavy/undulating lines. These graffitis date back to at least a century ago (xx century), and this hypothesis is sustained by the two B letters inside the waste shaft, which has a modern structure but not a contemporary one.