Fonterutoli historical timeline

The name is older than the record. Fonterutoli has origins ancient enough to have been known in the times of the Etruscans and the Romans, as Fons Rutolae and Fons Rutilant. The necropoli del Poggino, in a grove here, was in use from the end of the 7th century BC, and the Museo Archeologico del Chianti places the Poggino di Fonterutoli among the aristocratic burials of the Etruscan princes of this country, alongside Montecalvario at Castellina, Malpensata at Radda and the Poggione at Castelnuovo Berardenga.

In 998 an emperor drew lines here. As a plaque at the centre of the borgo recalls, Otto III put an end to the contests between the powerful dioceses of Siena, Fiesole and Arezzo, establishing boundaries and possessions. The lane through the hamlet still carries his name: Via Ottone di Sassonia.

Then the secular border. During the wars between Siena and Florence, Fonterutoli was the seat of the agreements that put an end to the dispute over the territories of the Chianti. The legend attached to those agreements — told as a legend — is that the border was to be fixed where two knights met, one riding from each city at the first cock-crow, and that the meeting fell near Fonterutoli.

In 1435 the Mazzei arrived and stayed. The castle of Fonterutoli became the property of the marchesi Mazzei, who established themselves here in that year and hold it still. Its aspect has altered little; the one substantial change was the replacement of the original castle by the seigneurial villa at the end of the 16th century.

The twentieth century left a plaque too. One in the borgo records the stay of Giorgio La Pira.

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