(Fabulous views and good walks)

About 15 km from Barontoli. Go to Sovicille and follow signs first to Ancaiano and then to Tegoia.

Tegoia is the hill village that you see overlooking Barontoli from the hills to the west. It has perhaps the most spectacular views over Siena of anywhere in the neighbourhood. It also provides the point of departure for an interesting walk to the hamlet of Molli, now almost deserted but with a small Romanesque 'pieve' (parish church). The church is often shut, and even when open it is of limited interest. So this is an expedition for the views and the walks rather than the art.

Drive through the village of Tegoia, pausing to admire the extraordinary vies on the right. Park at one of the widenings on the dirt road beyond (you can drive all the way up to Molli but it is pretty bumpy). Then walk up the dirt road, keeping to the right at the fork, and after about 1½ kilometres you will come to the small cluster of buildings that is Molli. The church, at the top on the right, is a very simple 11th century structure. Its cemetery (which is still used) is another 300 metres along the ridge.

In Molli, you are on the crest of the main ridge of the mountains with fine views in several directions. If you want to walk further, you can either go on beyond the cemetery, or return to the fork below Molli for a gently contoured path through the woods that takes you onto the western flank of the mountains, i.e. the side invisible from Barontoli.

The area round Molli was the scene of much partisan action during the last war, and memorials to those shot by the Germans are scattered around.

(1992)