Top Chianti Classic Car Tours

We will cross a typical Chianti landscape between vineyards and olive groves until we reach the Agliena stream. During the journey along the stream we will be able to admire the 27 'Briglie', that is the medieval hydraulic engineering structures built for the regulation and collection of the waters of the stream, which supplied the ancient city of Semifonte with water, destroyed by the Florentines in 1202 The bridle was used until the 18th century, but then abandoned. Only the restoration of the last few years has allowed its restoration and conservation. A detailed map of these 'bridles' can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester in the paper “Methods for avoiding erosion of river banks” demonstrating that the “universal genius” had carefully studied these hydraulic structures. A painting of the Agliena valley attributed to Leonardo da Vinci is now in the British Museum in London.