Greve in Chianti Geography, Climate & Nature

Geography

Greve in Chianti lies in the Val di Greve, and takes its name from the small, fast-flowing river that runs through it. The town is about 31 kilometres south of Florence and 42 kilometres north of Siena, on the via Chiantigiana.

The comune is large and steep. Its territory covers 169.38 square kilometres and extends between the Monti del Chianti and the Florentine hills. It has the character of middle hill country, and in its southernmost part the character of a mountain environment.

The range of altitude is the thing to understand. The comune runs from a minimum of 130 metres above sea level in the settlement of Ferrone to a maximum of 892 metres at the summit of Monte San Michele. The capoluogo sits at 236 metres — which is why Greve feels like a valley town while everything around it feels like hill country. It is.

Position made the town. Greve stands where the connecting routes between the Valdarno, the Val di Greve and the road from Florence through the Chianti hills to the Sienese came together — which is precisely why a dependency of a hilltop castle became the district's chief market.

Seismically the comune is classified zone 3s — low seismicity.

Its frazioni include Strada in Chianti, a large village on the Chiantigiana about 10 km from the capoluogo at around 300 metres; Montefioralle; and Panzano in Chianti.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

Climate patterns

The climate here changes a great deal from place to place, because the altitude and the landform change: this is a comune that runs from 130 to 892 metres.

Summers are, everywhere in the comune, cooler than those in the centre of Florence. That is the practical case for staying in Chianti in July and August and travelling in to the city rather than the other way round.

Winters in the valleys are harsher, with minimum temperatures that can fall several degrees below zero.

Snow, in some localities of the comune, is frequent — though it never remains on the ground for many days. A Chianti winter is not reliably mild, and the higher roads are not reliably clear.

The nearest weather station to the capoluogo is Poggibonsi-Strozzavolpe, which is the source of the thirty-year averages usually quoted for Greve. The comune is in climatic zone E, 2,126 degree days, and its atmospheric diffusivity is classified high.

Habitats & biodiversity

The comune spans two quite different environments, and its living cover follows them. It extends between the Monti del Chianti and the Florentine hills, presenting the character of middle hill country across most of its area and, in its southernmost part, the character of a mountain environment.

That southern, higher ground rises to 892 metres at Monte San Michele — high enough for the vegetation, the growing season and the snow line to behave differently from the vineyard country 700 metres below it.

The cultivated landscape is the dominant habitat. Greve is the principal town of the Chianti wine district, and vine and olive occupy much of the workable slope, interleaved with the woodland that covers the steeper ground.

The area has a long pastoral record as well as a viticultural one. The town's own arms are read as referring either to the Florentine wool guild or to the sheep-rearing of the area — a reminder that these hills carried flocks long before they carried the modern wine economy.

Wildlife & birds

The honest position: this page does not carry a species list for Greve, because the sources used for it do not publish one. What can be said is about habitat rather than fauna.

The comune's 169.38 square kilometres run from 130 to 892 metres and include a southern sector with the character of a mountain environment, which means wooded upland as well as farmed hill country. That mix — vineyard, olive, and the woodland of the Monti del Chianti — is the habitat a visitor is moving through.

For anything specific, ask locally. The comune maintains a tourist office, and it is the right first stop for walking routes and for what is currently being seen in the woods above the Val di Greve.

What this page will not do is invent a list. Wild boar, roe deer and raptors are plausible in these hills and are routinely asserted on travel pages; none of them is documented in the sources this page is built on, so none is claimed here as fact about Greve.

Verified against Comune di Greve in Chianti, October 2026.

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Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Wikipedia — Greve in Chianti sits in the Val di Greve, is named for the small fast-flowing river that runs through it, and is the principal town in the Chianti wine district that stretches south of Florence to just north of Siena; it is a member of Cittaslow., The English-language record instead states that the old name was Greve and that in 1972 it was renamed Greve in Chianti after the inclusion of that area in the Chianti wine district, and gives the town as about 31 kilometres south of Florence and 42 kilometres north of Siena., The territory of the comune of Greve in Chianti has an extension of 169.38 square kilometres and extends between the Monti del Chianti and the Florentine hills, presenting characters of the middle hill country and, in its most southerly part, those typical of a mountain environment; the altimetric range runs from a minimum of 130 m above sea level in the settlement of Ferrone to a maximum of 892 m at the summit of Monte San Michele, and the capoluogo is placed at 236 m, with a seismic classification of zone 3s, low seismicity., Since the Middle Ages the history of Greve has been tied to its principal square, which has always exercised the function of a mercatale; the village was a simple dependency of the castle of Montefioralle but, thanks to its position at the point where the connecting routes between the Valdarno, the Val di Greve and the road leading from Florence through the Chianti hills into the Sienese met, it could become the principal mercatale of the area., Strada in Chianti is a large frazione of Greve in Chianti placed on the via Chiantigiana, about 10 kilometres from the capoluogo and situated at about 300 m of height, whose most interesting monument is the church of San Cristoforo; and the Castello di Verrazzano with its annexed borgo is found about 2 km from the centre of Greve on a hill at 348 metres., The territory of the comune of Greve in Chianti has an extension of 169.38 square kilometres and extends between the Monti del Chianti and the Florentine hills, presenting characters of the middle hill country and, in its most southerly part, those typical of a mountain environment; the altimetric range runs from a minimum of 130 m above sea level in the settlement of Ferrone to a maximum of 892 m at the summit of Monte San Michele, and the capoluogo is placed at 236 m, with a seismic classification of zone 3s, low seismicity., Greve in Chianti sits in the Val di Greve, is named for the small fast-flowing river that runs through it, and is the principal town in the Chianti wine district that stretches south of Florence to just north of Siena; it is a member of Cittaslow., The figure in the upper part of the arms of Greve in Chianti, adopted after 1860, probably refers to the corporation of the Arte della Lana of Florence, which had the paschal lamb as its emblem, or to the sheep-rearing of the area; the gold and blue takes up the blazon of the Adimari of Florence, lords of the castle of Cintoia., The territory of the comune of Greve in Chianti has an extension of 169.38 square kilometres and extends between the Monti del Chianti and the Florentine hills, presenting characters of the middle hill country and, in its most southerly part, those typical of a mountain environment; the altimetric range runs from a minimum of 130 m above sea level in the settlement of Ferrone to a maximum of 892 m at the summit of Monte San Michele, and the capoluogo is placed at 236 m, with a seismic classification of zone 3s, low seismicity., The climate at Greve in Chianti changes much from locality to locality as the altitude and morphology vary; the summers are everywhere cooler than those of the centre of Florence, the winters in the valleys are harsher with minimum temperatures that can fall several degrees below zero, and snow in certain localities of the comune is frequent even if it never remains on the ground for many days; the nearest weather station to the capoluogo is Poggibonsi-Strozzavolpe, the climatic classification is zone E with 2,126 degree days, and the atmospheric diffusivity is high., The territory of the comune of Greve in Chianti has an extension of 169.38 square kilometres and extends between the Monti del Chianti and the Florentine hills, presenting characters of the middle hill country and, in its most southerly part, those typical of a mountain environment; the altimetric range runs from a minimum of 130 m above sea level in the settlement of Ferrone to a maximum of 892 m at the summit of Monte San Michele, and the capoluogo is placed at 236 m, with a seismic classification of zone 3s, low seismicity. (October 2026).
Checked against Comune di Greve in Chianti — The Comune di Greve in Chianti has its seat at Piazza Giacomo Matteotti 7/8, 50022 Greve in Chianti (FI), with switchboard telephone 05585451, and places its Polizia Municipale at Via di Colognole 63/65; its organisational structure lists an Ufficio Turistico, a "Vivere il Comune" events section and "Mobilita e trasporti" services. (October 2026).