SINCE 1484
The Fattoriadi Ripa d’Orciahas been deeply rooted…
…in the land of Val d'Orcia since ancient times. It was in 1484 that the noblewoman Madama Francesca, widow of Messer Pietro di Bartolomeo Piccolomini, became the owner of the Castle and the Ripa d'Orcia Estate,
bordering on “per confino da un lato l’Asso, dall’altro l’Orcia, dall’altro la corte di Sancto Quirico e dall’altro la corte di Vignone” (Dizionario geografico fisico storico della Toscana, E. Repetti, 1833). This is the date of birth of the Castle’s farming estate, which from then on became the productive and administrative centre of the Ripa d’Orcia area, with agricultural activities involving the owner’s family, the inhabitants of the fortified hamlet and the sharecroppers living in the surrounding countryside.