Buonconvento
Distance: 3 km, 4 minutes by car
History Today Guide
Located on the via Francigena, the medieval pilgrimage route that connected Rome to the rest of Europe, Buonconvento started out as a trading post in the late 12th century and grew to be a major town in the province of Siena in part thanks to traffic drawn by the nearby monastic stopovers of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and Sant’Antimo throughout the Grand Tour era and persists today.
Now Buonconvento is a working town with its own small industry, but it is also a treasure. Astute guidebooks are quick to point out that from the road, Buonconvento may appear to be just a pit stop, but that its picturesque center and good museums are well worth exploration.
Teeming with local life, Buonconvento can be a pleasure to stroll in the evening or Saturdays when the market is in town. Additionally it offers convenient access to a supermarket as well as smaller shops including the famous Dolcezze di Nanni bakery, a butcher, fruit and vegetable shop, pharmacy, gelateria and more. A handful of gift shops, including La Dolce Vita’s handmade leather bags, also make a visit well worthwhile.
The town’s medieval walls and quaint center are also home to two museums of interest:
The Museo d’Arte Sacra della Val d’Arbia, houses masterpieces by artists of the Sienese school, including a Madonna and Child by Duccio di Buoninsegna and another by Pietro Lorenzetti, that for the most part come from the properties of the noble Sienese families who once housed these works in their nearby country homes.
The Museo Etnografico della Mezzadria instead is an institution created to educate the public about the system of sharecropping (mezzadria) that dominated rural life here possibly from as long ago as Roman times until well into the 1950’s. Displays include the recreation of what local living quarters for farmers were like (probably very close to the situation at Borgo Finocchieto during the last two centuries).