Birthplace of Saint Galgano

In the center of Chiusdino is the birthplace of Saint Galgano, the knight who drove his sword into a rock on the Montesiepi hillside then devoted himself to a life of prayer and hermitage. 

That the birth of Saint Galgano took place in Chiusdino is certain; that it took place in this very building is according to a tradition already established in the first half of the 1300s and supported by testamentary bequests from 1348.

Testimonies from the 17ᵗʰ century state that the Cistercians had received ownership from Galgano’s mother, which can be confirmed by the presence on the building’s façade of the emblem of the Abbey of San Galgano carved on one of the stones. It is said that the monks later ceded the building to the Company of Saint Galgano.

Over time, the structure—originally of more modest proportions and corresponding to the eastern body of the building alone—underwent several modifications. Following the change of ownership in favor of the Company around the 1460s, the building was ennobled so that it would be immediately invoke the image of an idealized home of a young knight. The façade was given a crenellated crowning inspired by the fortifications and buildings of Siena, while a chapel adorned with a fresco cycle dedicated to Saint Galgano by Sienese painter Niccolò di Ser Sozzo was completed in the underground level. It was probably during this series of interventions that the marble relief depicting the Archangel Michael leading Saint Galgano to Montesiepi was affixed to the façade, today safeguarded in the Museum of Sacred Art in Chiusdino and replaced by a replica.

Over the centuries, the building identified as the Casa di San Galgano (House of Saint Galgano) became a veritable shrine. In the 15ᵗʰ century, there were two chapels—the “Cappella di Sotto” and the “Cappella di Sopra” (“Chapel Below” and the “Chapel Above”). Between the 17ᵗʰ and 18ᵗʰ centuries, the building was gradually overhauled and adapted to the style of the times through the elimination of the battlements and the widespread application of plastered facings. The interior of the chapel was then whitewashed, perhaps also as a result of the gradual deterioration of the frescoes, in the underground level subjected to high humidity.

During the Napoleonic occupation, the house was put to military use, becoming a barracks and prison, with the goods within being sold off to private individuals. Only in the early 1900s was the lower chapel restored and reopened for worship.

Today, the Birthplace of Saint Galgano is undergoing a major restoration. Inside the building will be a museum dedicated to the rare and exquisite materials salvaged from the archaeological excavations conducted at the nearby Castle of Miranduolo located in the woods beyond the Merse River.