Having left behind Ponte d’Arbia, one arrives at Buonconvento, which offers three hospitals and the security of a well-fortified town. Buonconvento is an agricultural center which grew up in the 13th century around the old castle of Percenna. Subsequently, the town entered into the dominion of Siena, which saw the 14th century construction of the walled belt, still in existence. The name Buonconvento—“Bonus Conventus”—signifies the assembly of people who gathered here, and who were attracted by the fertility of the land and the advantages of its good location. In Buonconvento, the Crete become ample and sunny, and cast their gaze towards a horizon which reaches for the heavens with the clear-cut profile of Montalcino and the large shoulders of Amiata.
The energies produced by water and by man have always given strength to this region, which marks the confluence of the Arbia and the Ombrone and, above all, the path of the ancient Via Francigena which cuts through the area. Buonconvento is historically a place of meeting, as well as conflict, and of exchange. And in its rectangular shape—delineated by an ancient walled belt—the buildings and monuments conserved therein give testimony to the city’s important past. On the façade of the old city hall, one can still see the 25 insignias of the magistrates who governed Buonconvento up until 1270.
