(A village with a villa, church with frescoes, good views and good walks, about 15 km north-west of Barontoli.)

Drive to Volte Basse and, at the main road turn right and then almost immediately left, following the signs for Firenze until after about 6 kilometres when you take a turning to the left sign-posted Santa Columba. After a few kilometres, there is a road to the right up (sign-posted) to the village.

Santa Columba is a very small village with a large and handsome villa at the entrance. The villa cannot be visited, but can be admired from outside. Originally a fortress, it was lived in by Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1586), the most famous Sienese architect of his day. He turned it into a gracious country house, installing a handsome spiral staircase inside. The façade was then remodelled in the 17th century. Despite all these changes, the villa still retains some aspects of the fortress, being solid and chunky as well as decorative.

The church, on the other side of the road from the villa, looks rather small and boring from outside, but inside it is surprisingly spacious and contains some interesting remains of frescoes attributed to the early painter Segna di Bonaventura (active 1298-1331). A very faded Nativity can just be made out on the left, with the shepherds and their flocks and a huge sheepdog, and angels at the top. There is a better preserved crucifix on the right of the altar.

For good walks, drive through the village and on up the dirt track. The road goes past the village cemetery and then ends after a kilometre or so in a group of farmhouses. One can park along the way, where there are various tracks for gentle walks (the tracks on the right mostly go past dwellings). On clear days, looking back towards the village, there are fine views of Siena, and indeed of the whole plain to the south of Siena, including San Rocco and Barontoli. There are also often good wildflowers.

For a longer and wilder walk, park near the group of farmhouses at the end and walk up to the right between the two groups of farm buildings into the wood where there is a track that winds on up for miles.

1985