Ancient Times
Subsequently
the Hospital Chapter passed a resolution for the sale (1437) to
a certain Compagno di Bartolomeo della Agazzara whose descendants
in 1484 conveyed the Estate, with “its boundary on one side
the Asso and on the other the Orcia, on the other the court of
Sancto Quirico and on the other the court of Vignone” to
madam Francesca, widow of lord Pietro di Bartolomeo Piccolomini.
So from 1484 the Castle, together with the fortified village and surrounding land, became the property of the Piccolomini family, the Carli branch, to which the Clementini and Febi branches were later added.
At that point the mediaeval castles had lost their raison d’être: the invention of artillery marked their decline and these properties, gradually losing their strategic importance, were reduced to strictly productive use. Everything that brought little revenue was sold or rented. This was not the case for the Ripa d’Orcia Castle Estate: though its cultivable land was not easily worked and moreover had been neglected during the long periods of war, a deed of trust was drawn up in the will of Emilio Piccolomini Carli on 5th August 1605 rendering it inalienable and part of the inheritance of the family’s firstborn son.
There is no information about the castle for the following years excepting the probable results of research in the Siena State Archives, but this is outside the scope of the present study.
At the end of the 19th century Count Pietro Piccolomini Clementini, a lover of art and its highest manifestations, undertook restoration work with the expert aid of Savino Cresti, an engineer. This work was continued in a no less intelligent manner by his widow, countess Marianna. As a result the Ripa d’Orcia Castle today retains its original features, the ancient forms having been maintained with true artistic taste.
Since then the Castle and the village have been continuously inhabited and used by the descendants of this aristocratic Sienese family. Consequently they have been assiduously maintained, which is the only guarantee of preservation.
So from 1484 the Castle, together with the fortified village and surrounding land, became the property of the Piccolomini family, the Carli branch, to which the Clementini and Febi branches were later added.
At that point the mediaeval castles had lost their raison d’être: the invention of artillery marked their decline and these properties, gradually losing their strategic importance, were reduced to strictly productive use. Everything that brought little revenue was sold or rented. This was not the case for the Ripa d’Orcia Castle Estate: though its cultivable land was not easily worked and moreover had been neglected during the long periods of war, a deed of trust was drawn up in the will of Emilio Piccolomini Carli on 5th August 1605 rendering it inalienable and part of the inheritance of the family’s firstborn son.
There is no information about the castle for the following years excepting the probable results of research in the Siena State Archives, but this is outside the scope of the present study.
At the end of the 19th century Count Pietro Piccolomini Clementini, a lover of art and its highest manifestations, undertook restoration work with the expert aid of Savino Cresti, an engineer. This work was continued in a no less intelligent manner by his widow, countess Marianna. As a result the Ripa d’Orcia Castle today retains its original features, the ancient forms having been maintained with true artistic taste.
Since then the Castle and the village have been continuously inhabited and used by the descendants of this aristocratic Sienese family. Consequently they have been assiduously maintained, which is the only guarantee of preservation.