Sovicille is located in the Val di Merse, an area of lush forest and mediaeval villages, and has played a remarkable role in the history of Republic of Siena. The village is located about 10 km west of Siena on the old via Maremmana, the road running from Sienna to the coast of the Maremma.
Suavis locus ille, the pleasantness of the place, or Sub illice, - under the oaks, are the most probable origins of Sovicille, the name given to the ancient village facing the Montagnola Senese.

The village Sovicille dates back to the 7th century AC, when Siena was a chamberlainship due to its strategic position. The town of Siena seems to have been dominated by the Longobards in that period. This is testified by the presence of numerous castles in the most strategic areas around Siena, not least in Sovicille.
Castles represented at that time the centre of military, family, economic, and social life. They were also used to stock all the harvest (or part of it) that the losers had to pay as a tribute (“terzia”) to the winners. La Sala, the name given to the village of Sovicille at the beginning of the 11th century further testifies the presence of Longobards in that area. Various different cultures, -Etruscans, Romans, Germanics – succeded in the village up till the year one thousand (1004). From that date on, till mid 12th century, the castle appears as property of the Serena Abbey.

The Sovicille castle has been documented since the year 1004 under the ancient name of "Suffichillum", Throughout the centuries the castle became a village which houses the town hall. The castle has kept its original shape and dimensions which were reconstructed in the second half of the year 1400.

The prosperous city-state of Sovicille and its territory finally declined at the end of the 14th century, as a result of conflicts and incursions.

Sovicille and its surrounding area are rich in abbeys and Romanesque parish churches. One of the main monuments of the Sovicille area is the Pieve di San Giovanni Battista a Ponte allo Spino (Parish Church Ponte allo Spino - dedicated to John the Baptist), located close to the remains of a gothic cloister, the Eremo di Santa Lucia (Hermitage of Rosia), the Villa Lechner, for Italian garden enthusiasts, there are the Villa di Celsa gardens and the Villa Cetinale gardens. About 35 km to the south west, is one of the most famous sights in Tuscany, the ruined Cisterician Abbey of San Galgano.
There are several occupied and also ruined Augustinian monasteries in the area, most notably the Hermitage and Monastery of Lecceto. Last but not least is the River Merse, one of the most beautiful of this region, and the Farma stream, flowing through a very interesting natural area.

Comune Sovicille

The plains at the foot of the Montagnola have an intense red color due to the presence of iron and bauxite in the soil. Here it is possible to find crystals fused with black quartz and hyaline, along with crystals of hematite and calcite. There are springs at the hill slopes that are rich sources of soft drinking water. There is a large shallow underground watershed in the fiatlands in the area of the Arnpugnano airport: this Luco spring provides water to a vast district. This territory that is made up of forests, hills, and plains with streams of water running throughout them, has been inhabited from the beginning of civilization. Prehistoric findings around the areas of Trecciano and Brenna date back to the Stone Age. In various locations there are traces of Villanovan, Etruscan and Roman civilizations not to mention the great expanse in feudalism and city states. Considering the abundance of woodlands, up until the middle of the last century the main activities in this vast territory were charcoal burning and woodcutting.
In Siena and in particular Ancaiano, mules or donkeys pulled carts that transported charcoal, twigs and firewood to Siena even as far as Florence. In memory of these old professions, there is a unique museum in the village of Orgia called Museo del Bosco.

Pieve di Ponte allo Spino One of the main monuments of the Sovicille area is the Pieve di San Giovanni Battista, a romanesque structure with three naves. The Pieve di San Giovanni Battista is better known as the Pieve di Ponte allo Spino and was originally built in the second half of the 12 C by Vallambrosan monks and shows many similarities with contemporary French architecture.
The most archaic element is the Lombard-influenced bell tower that displays a succession of single, double, triple, and four-light windows placed in four orders. It has an elegant fagade with limestone ashlars, with three steps leading to a door, surmounted by a round arch and three single-light windows. A 14th-century, prism-shaped baptismal font is found inside, with the Baptism of Christ depicted on the front of it, as well as a 15th-century Madonna Enthroned with Child and Saints Sebastian and Anthony the Abbot by Guidoccio Cozzarelli.

Pieve san Giovanni Battista a Ponte allo Spino, (interior)

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La pieve di San Giusto a Ball

Pieve di Santa Mustiola in Torri

Castello di Poggiarello di Stigliano

The Eremo di Rosia is situated near the medieval bridge over the River Rosia, called Ponte della Pia. The church, entitled to holy Antonio and Luca, was probably built with only nave's system but today is remained only the presbytery's and external wall's part.
From the main road, the hermitage is located along a cobblestoned Roman road surrounded by woods. During the Middle Ages this road was a spur off the Via Francigena, the route from Canterbury to the holy places in Rome.
The hermitage Eremo di Rosia was situated just a little off the road but close enough to be visited by pilgrims. It is cut into the hillside and consisted of a Gothic church, the hermits' convento or friary, places for working and storage, a cloister (clausura) roofed over on two sides and a channel for bringing fresh water to the residents.
Like the legends of Lecceto and Centumcelle, Rosia lays claim to a visit from St. Augustine during the year of 387 on his way from Milan to Rome.

By 1575 the hermitage (eremo) had been made a branch of the large Augustinian community in Sienna. In 1638, only two men remained there, and Santa Lucia at Rosia closed.
The ruins of the church still reflect its elegant simplicity, a hallmark of Augustinian life, in the one standing wall of alternating white and red marble in the Pisa-Lucchese style. The convent has been much transformed during the years it functioned as a farmhouse. Completely abandoned for years now, its most interesting pieces have been taken away and placed in the home of the owner of the land. However, three gothic arches and the traces of a number of windows remain to give evidence of what it once looked like.