The history of the Castello di Casole estate is deeply rooted in the Tuscan agricultural system of centuries past. At the time the castle was built, around 1700, dramatic changes in the social and agrarian landscape were underway. The rural houses throughout Tuscany began shifting to the sharecropping agreements, helping to dispel the centuries-old oppressive tradition of feudal serfdom. Here, for the first time in history, peasants became a party in a legal agreement – at the same level as the owner. Crop rotation needs and the tending of livestock created a year-round need for workers, and the job offered peasants far more favorable conditions than any other at the time.

Typically, and as was the case with the Querceto Manor, as the original Castello was named, the farms of the Tuscan countryside were occupied primarily with the cultivations of cereals and legumes. Plantations of fruit-bearing trees, olive groves and vineyards were also of great importance. And, of course, any self-sustaining agriculture would have a healthy vegetable garden. Lastly, the livestock largely consisted of draft oxen, pigs and poultry, with cows and horses a little less frequent.

The view that welcomes today’s visitors along the road from Casole d’Elsa towards the Castello, as well as from Monteriggioni, is an intimate reflection of its original 18th Century Tuscan landscape. It remains every bit as pastoral and pristine as it was over 200 years ago.