Storically, the name Chianti referred to a territory occupied by the municipalities of Gaiole, Radda and Castellina, which were part of the ancient Florentine Military League of Chianti, then transformed in the Province of the Chianti. However, the foundation of the Chianti wine-producing, which includes the sub-zone called Classico, but at the same time certain areas of the province of Florence too, today the name Chianti refers to a more wide geographical area. Initially, this region was occupied by the Etruscan. After them, it was under the rule of Romans, who continued the cultivation of grapevine; later, it was dominated by Lombards. Its position on the edge of the communication routes allowed to preserve it from ruinous Barbarian invasions after the decline of the Roman Empire. Because of the fights between Siena and Florence, exactly from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, it was transformed in a battle field.
When medieval fights ended, some valleys were cleared and cultivated: olive groves and vineyards, as well as vinechestnut woods and oaks, started to take over. All of these cultivations continue to contribute to enrich the Chianti region today.The landscape offers woods, extended vineyars, farms, big terraces and wide vallweys crossed by rivers, roads characterized by sweet bends full of farmhouses surrounded by cypresses, the most popular type of trees in the region. Castles, abbeys, towns, parish churches, Renaissance houses and villages often covered by woods and valleys, are treasures that can be discovered by the most curious tourists, enraptured by the smell of the olives that inebriate the air.
