In 1996 we moved to the Crete Senesi and we fell in love with Il Molinello: Etruscan origins, medieval mill, peace and tranquillity. That’s why we decided to share it with our guests! Il Molinello, which means “little mill” in Italian, is in fact a small medieval mill which dates back at least to 1356, when its existence was first documented. In addition to the opportunity to stay in one of the rooms that are part of the original structure, Elisa and Sandro will be happy to show you the grist mill itself (now located beneath a glass window on their living room floor).

The farm keeps the whole family busy: Alessandro (biologist, nature guide and Sommelier), Elisa who looks after the administration, Mauro and Paola, retired but full time busy on the farm. And we hope that in the future even Emma, Guido and Bernardo will give us a helping hand.We produce vegetables and fruit, olive oil and truffles from organic agriculture.For our guests we organize a rich programme of initiatives discovering the colours and flavours of the Crete, wine tasting in our cosy winery, cooking lessons, wine tours, olive oil tasting, and excursions by bike guided by Alessandro who is fond of cycling.

Welcome to the world’s most photographed panorama! There is indeed no piece of this landscape left that has not already become a snapshot. A wide sea of clay spreads out over the countryside Southeast of Siena: one evocative, soft hill follows the other, the few forests leave space to the endless stretches of wheat fields and grassland, able to change their colours with the succession of the seasons. The Crete Senesi are indeed a quite different world. Someone has defined them as “moonscape”, but only because he hasn’t seen them in spring, when the explosion of nature makes the fields become green waves, caressed by the wind, or in autumn, when the farmers’ ploughs bring the clay back to the surface, with its beautiful violet shimmer. The Crete are, without doubt, a land of agriculture. In the first place a land of wheat and land of the shepherds. Not by chance it’s famous for its sheep’s milk cheese, unique like the unmistakable flavour of the wild herbs that give their aroma to the sheep’s milk. Land of olive groves that produce the fine “Terre di Siena” oil with guarantee of origin (Dop). Land of the hot springs in Rapolano Terme.