The Medieval village of Barberino Val d'Elsa

Barberino Val d'Elsa still saves today the characteristic features of the typical Medieval fortified settlement.

The urban settlement is structured according to an elliptical plant with a main road that crosses through the village to join the two gates placed at the ends of the road, the "Porta Senese" (Siena's Gate) and the "Porta Fiorentina" (Florentine Gate).

The "Porta Senese" shows its intact building as well as the ancient ring of walls, erected by the Florentines, whose inside the village develops and from which numerous high towers rise, whereas the "Porta Fiorentina" was recently rebuilt in its original features.

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Close to the "Porta Fiorentina" it is possible to see the fourteenth-century building of the Pilgrims' Hospital, today hosting the Municipal Library.

In the heart of the historic centre of Barberino Val d'Elsa rise numerous particularly interesting building like the Praetorian Palace that opens on the main square and still shows on its facade some fifteenth-century ensigns.

Very interesting is also the Saint Bartolomeo Church built in new Gothic style by the architect Giuseppe Castellucci. Inside the religious building it is possible to admire some traces of fourteenth-century frescoes, among them, an "Annunciation" placed on the right wall.