Discover Casa Chianti Classico, Radda in Chianti

The Casa Chianti Classico occupies the convent of Santa Maria al Prato, immediately below the historic centre of Radda in Chianti, at Circonvallazione Santa Maria 18.

The place is much older than the convent. The toponym Santa Maria has ancient origins, and the sacred building is remembered from the beginning of the 9th century as a destination of pilgrimage in veneration of an image of the Virgin held to be miraculous. It was later placed under the dependency of the church of San Niccolò at Radda, as a Marian oratory.

The convent building dates to the Settecento, when the existing Romanesque oratory was entrusted to a community of religious, who saw to its restructuring and to the construction of the structure adjacent to the present church, as well as the creation of the portico in front of it. The oratory had been ceded to the Franciscan friars in 1708 for them to found a convent there.

Today the restored rooms hold a wine-culture centre: the bistrot Al Convento, the Gallo Nero wine shop, a sensory and informative route on wine and the history of Chianti Classico, exhibition spaces, wine courses, event spaces and cookery courses on booking — with a terrace over the Chianti hills, the friars' old refectory and the original cloister.

Three layers, and only two are visible. A Romanesque oratory is the core. An eighteenth-century convent was built around and beside it. A modern restoration turned the convent's rooms into exhibition and hospitality space without replacing them.

The Settecento campaign did three things: it restructured the existing oratory, it built the structure adjacent to the present church, and it created the portico in front of that church. Those are the three moves that made a convent out of a wayside shrine.

The conventual elements survive as elements. The original cloister and the friars' old refectory are both still legible, and both are used.

The site does the rest. The convent sits just below Radda's historic centre on the ring road, with a terrace over the Chianti hills — the aspect that made it a pilgrimage stop and then a convent, and that now makes it a place people sit.

Note the two spellings. The church appears as Santa Maria in Prato in some records and as Santa Maria al Prato in the operator's own usage; they are the same building.

This is an adaptation of an adaptation. A Romanesque oratory became a Franciscan convent in the Settecento; the convent became a wine-culture centre in our own time. At each stage the previous fabric was kept and built onto rather than cleared.

What the friars added. The structure adjacent to the present church, and the portico in front of it. Both are eighteenth-century work wrapped around an older core, which is the normal way a convent grows out of a shrine.

What the modern work did. The operator describes the ancient rooms as perfectly restored and fitted with a bistrot, an enoteca, a sensory route, exhibition spaces, course rooms and event spaces — a change of use rather than a change of fabric.

The exhibits are built, not hung. The sensory route consists of interactive rooms designed to be walked with a glass in hand, plus a dedicated olive-oil room added in 2022 and a video room. This is a museum whose displays are rooms.

The oldest object is a panel. The Neri di Bicci of 1474 predates the convent by more than two centuries and survives inside it.

What is the sensory route?

A walk through interactive rooms with a glass of wine tasted blind, learning to recognise the characteristics of Chianti Classico. Since 2022 it also includes a room for Chianti Classico DOP olive oil, and it is accompanied by a permanent exhibition and a video room.

Do I need to book?

No — not unless you are more than ten people. The route can be done on any opening day, starting at latest 30 minutes before closing.

What does it cost?

No admission price appears on the operator's own pages read for this entry, so none is quoted here. Ask at info@casachianticlassico.it.

When is it open?

Closed Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday 11:00–17:00; Friday and Saturday 11:00–16:00 and 18:00–20:00; Sunday 11:00–16:00. Kitchen 12:30–15:00.

What is the permanent exhibition about?

The three hundred years of the delimitation of the Chianti wine zone, from Cosimo de' Medici's edict of 1716 to the present day.

How old is the building?

The convent is eighteenth-century, built when the Romanesque oratory here was entrusted to a religious community; the oratory had been ceded to the Franciscans in 1708. The sacred building itself is remembered from the beginning of the 9th century.

Is there art in the church?

Yes — a Neri di Bicci dated 1474, the Madonna and Child between Saints Nicholas, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene and Anthony Abbot.