Terraced landscapes have shaped the Chianti countryside, and you will be able to admire them in Greve in Chianti, in Lamole, and in Villa le Barone’s gardens!
Terraces are used in agriculture all over the world, and this technique has been reported in the Mediterranean region even 3700 years ago. In the Middle Age as well as the Renaissance, after the end of the war between Florence and Siena, cultivated areas were conquered over the slopes with the construction of stone terraces to hold the hillsides and avoid erosion, and to gain flat surfaces on which vines and olive trees grew. They were also regulating water falls, and avoiding the soil to be removed. For centuries until Second World War, terraces have been the main system for land management in Chianti, and this was also the case at Villa le Barone.
But those dry stone walls are requesting a lot of maintenance, and with the mechanization, vine producers removed the terraces to plant the new vineyards, and use less expensive agriculture techniques. In many places the stone walls have now disappeared or are falling. The Fattoria (agricultural estate) Villa le Barone does not produce wine any more, but the Hotel still has a few terraces were the lagerstroemia , the fruit trees , and the olive trees are growing, and where you can relax!