Pieve a Pava, Montalcino (Tuscany)
Pieve a Pava
Guesthouse in Tuscany
6 Bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, 12 to a maxium of 14 people (with 2 extra beds added). There is a fully equiped kitchen, private parking, private pool and daily cleaning service.
Villa with private pool
The pool is in natural concrete, not painted, and thus integrating very nicely in the garden and nature. We use a salt installation to keep the water clear and disinfected so we don’t have the smell or problems from using chlorine. Around the pool and in some secret corners in the garden, you will find the sunbeds for relaxing and enjoying the silence all around… Part of the pool is only 50cm deep and so adapted also for smaller children to play, but we strongly recommend always an adult around with children beneath 12 years, or children who don’t know how to swim.
Il Pellegrino
Il Pellegrino is situated on the first floor of the main building, and enjoys a nice view on the pool. The room (23 sqm) has a small bedroom and ensuite bathroom with shower. It is named after the pilgrims who came by on the Via Francigena on their pilgrimage to Rome.
La Francescana
La Francescana is a large suite (50 sqm) on the first floor of the main house, divided into a sitting room, a large bedroom and a beautiful bathroom with separate shower and bathtub. The bedroom enjoys a beautiful view over the countryside, while the sitting room looks over the courtyard.It is named after the famous route the pilgrims followed to Rome and which passes close to Pava. An extra bed,suitable for a child, can be added in the room.
Odone
This superior room (38 sqm) is situated on the ground floor of the main house. It has a very large bedroom with ensuite bathroom with kingsize walk in shower. The room has a lovely entrance from the inner court from the borgo. Odone is the name of a priest, who played an important role in Pava’s history.
Santa Maria
Santa Maria is a large suite (55 sqm) on the first floor of the canonica, consisting of a sitting room with fire place, a nice bedroom with double bed, and an ensuite bathroom with separate shower and bathtub. Both sides of the suite look on to views of the surrounding countryside. The church of Pava is dedicated to Santa Maria and San Pietro. An extra bed, suitable for a child, can be added in the sitting room.
San Pietro
This suite (55 sqm) is situated on the ground floor of the canonica and looks out ontoa small renaissance garden on one side and onto the inner court of the borgo on the opposite side. The suite consists of a beautiful sitting room and bedroom with double bed and has an ensuite bathroom with bathtub/shower. Anextra bed can be added in the sitting area. San Pietro is one of the saints you can see in the fresco above the entrance from the church.
Camera dal padrone
Very beautiful suite, 38sqm, on the first floor with view on the garden and direct access to it. The room has a beautiful bathroom with bathtub/shower and A/C.
Wedding or anniversary
An intimate wedding, a family reunion or an anniversary with friends: all those looking for an intimate place to spend some good times with friends and family, will find at Pava the perfect spot. We would be more than happy to organize your dinners or wedding and giving you all assistance needed to make your special day, for you as well as your friends and guests.
History
Pava in the Valley of the Asso is surely one of the oldest and most important transit places which pilgrims used in the Etruscan-Roman period. It was also here that one of the oldest Christian communities of Tuscany was born and developed. In the late 80′s the small borgo of Pava became a private estate and the new owners painstakingly restored the farmhouse, canonica (priest’s house) and pieve (church). The church of Santa Maria di Pava dates back to the 4th century. Over the centuries, it was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, due mostly to the fact that the Val d’Asso and the Val d’Orcia were part of the great struggle between Siena and Florence. In fact, towns such as San Giovanni d’Asso, San Quirico, Monticchiello and even Pienza were actually built as fortrezzes used in these ongoing battles. A conflict between the bishops of Siena and Arezzo over the area ended when Enea Silvio Piccolomini became Pope. At this time Pieve a Pava was brought under the new diocese of Pienza. From the original structure, there remains a remarkable piece of rock, which can be seen on the outside of the lateral wall of the church. Behind the church, one can still see a more or less circular foundation of the apse of a later version of the church. The portal is enriched with a fresco, from the early 14th century, representing the ‘Madonna with holy child and two saints’. In the 18th century, the church was partially destroyed by an earthquake, and rebuilt, which explains the numerous baroque touches.The Archeological Excavation Site of Pava
The site, at the foot of the romanesque church, S. Maria in Pava, was discovered during a survey in 2001. The plenitude of possibilities was cause for great interest and especially auspicious was the location: a fundamental crossing point of the river Asso.
The first excavation followed magnetometer results that enabled researchers to recognize shapes possibly connected with the primitive Pieve di San Pietro church (apsidal form).
Successive excavations revealed the stone perimeter of a paleochristian church; the second apse had a base for the altar and a small interior apse. Also discovered was a small treasure cache with gold and silver coins dating to 527 and 541 d.C., some of which were unknown to the coin dealers of that age. Some findings are shown in the Castle.
Also uncovered were the remains of a thermal system, an industrial kiln and over 200 burials pertaining to a cemetery of a later period.
