Montiano is a fraction of the Italian municipality of Magliano in Toscana, in the province of Grosseto, in Tuscany.
Physical Geography
The hamlet is located north-west of the center of the municipal capital, which is about 10 km away. The town stands on the top of a hill overlooking the provincial road that leads to Grosseto.
History
The village was built at the end of the 13th century as a possession of the Aldobrandeschi family of the County of Sovana. Its foundation was consequent to the abandonment of the nearby castle of Montiano Vecchio which, in fact, constitutes its vestiges. The definitive abandonment of the oldest castle, built between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, took place at the beginning of the 14th century following a violent siege conducted by the Sienese, which forced the inhabitants to move to Montiano.
During the fourteenth century the Sienese managed to conquer the village of Montiano too, without however causing serious damage; incorporated in the territory of the Republic of Siena, it became one of the most important centers in the area dedicated to grazing and agriculture.
In the mid-16th century, following the definitive fall of Siena, Montiano became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, following its fate from that moment on.
Monuments and places of interest
•Church of San Giovanni Battista, the parish church of the hamlet, was built in the Middle Ages and restructured several times in later periods; the facade is the result of a makeover of the last century, while the interior has Baroque and eighteenth-century characteristics, with a fresco dating back to the fifteenth century attributed to the Giotto school and a baptismal font from the sixteenth century.
•Church of San Giuseppe, located on the opposite side of the town, dates back to the 16th century. The religious building, renovated in the 19th century, may have been built where the oldest parish church dedicated to Saints Stephen and Ilario once stood.
•Cappella di Santa Caterina, a small rural building located in the locality of Scalabrelli.
•Clock Tower, placed in the square that opens in front of the church, dates back to the Middle Ages and was restructured in modern times together with the adjacent building. In the past, it first represented the center of power of the Aldobrandeschi, then the civic palace.
•Castello di Montiano Vecchio, located near Montiano, along the road that leads to Scansano, is found in the form of ruins in a wooded area.
•Walls of Montiano, walls of medieval origins of which some sections survive.