Sinalunga Sinalunga

Fossil finds from prehistoric times, found in the hills of the area, testify to the presence of man in Sinalunga since then. Furthermore, finds from the 8th century BC. they tell us about an Etruscan nucleus settled in the hills of Sinalunga and belonging to the lucumonia of Chiusi.

The existence of a "mansio" (post office) located along the branch of the Cassia Adrianea that led to Siena dates back to Roman times. The location of this structure seems to have been exactly where the Pieve di San Pietro ad Mensula is today.

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, on the hill above the old Roman mansio of ad Mensula, stood the mighty castle of the Ripe owned by the Cacciaconti and around which the Sinalunghesi began to settle. Due to the progressive swamping that was affecting the Valdichiana plain due to the construction of the well-known dam on the Clanis river: the Muro Grosso made to limit the floods of the Tiber, the inhabitants began to move to the hills.

The village born in the shadow of the Ripe castle developed over time, as evidenced by a document of 782 which testifies to the existence of a place for public meetings, identifiable in the current Church of Santa Lucia.

The development of the village took place more and more in the existing hills behind the castle, increasingly distant from the swamp, giving rise to the current historic center. Perhaps for this very reason the castle of the Ripe was gradually abandoned and the new village was fortified.

All this took place under the rule of the Cacciaconti, a branch of the Scialenghi count family, who then dominated a large area south of Siena. Only in 1197, as a document dated 18 February and preserved in the Caleffo Vecchio in Siena attests, is there evidence of the transfer of power with the submission of Asinalonga to the Republic of Siena.

November 20, 1303 saw the birth of the free municipality of Asinalonga, despite the will of the Cacciaconti backed by Siena, as evidenced by an act drawn up in Sinalunga. In 1337 and until 1468, Siena assigned Sinalunga a seat for the management of the eleven Vicariates into which it had divided its territories.

In the first decades of the fourteenth century the Sienese territory was often attacked by Compagnie di Ventura until, in 1363, the Republic of Siena decided to defend its territory with weapons, engaging in an epic battle that lasted from dawn to dusk.

That day, the Sienese army managed to defeat the most deadly of the companies of fortune: that of the Bretoni del Cappello, in the pay of the Florentines. The final part of the battle with the mercenaries en route took place in the place that has since taken its name from their encirclement and capture: the Seraglio, where today stands the church of the Madonna del Soccorso.

Following the fate of the entire Sienese Republic, in 1588 Sinalunga became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and was the seat of a Captaincy which also had jurisdiction over: Bettolle, Scrofiano, Poggio S. Cecilia, Serre di Rapolano and Armaiolo.

In 1778 the Comunellis of the present hamlets were administratively merged with the Municipality of Sinalunga.

Finally, in 1799 Sinalunga passed under French domination and was only freed on 20 July 1814.