San Vincenzo Ferreri Chapel in Mugello

Many of you have seen the small Chapel at Il Poggio alle Ville, one the left of the entrance to the reception. But few of you know of its history and the restoration works involved in recuperating this small place dedicated to prayer and meditation.

The Chapel nowadays, always open for our guests and travelers

The Chapel was always part of the small hamlet of Le Ville that was restructured and transformed into the complex of farmhouses and rustic villa Il Poggio alle Ville. The oldest building seems to be Villa Montagna where Raffaele's parents found a stone with the engraving 1629. The research conducted by the art restorer who helped us bring back to life the small gem indicated the birth of the chapel around the year 1710. 

Il Poggio alle Ville as you know it today is the result of the tremendous vision of Raffaele's parents (see our history page). One of the last parts to be restored was the Chapel and in 2008 our family decided to invest in this little treasure. 

Three centuries and a lot of humidity had destroyed nearly everything - October 2008

The works started in November 2008 and lasted for nearly six months since it was only one restorer doing everything. Lots of patience, lots of energy but above all a lot of passion went into understanding the layers of frescoes and bring out the originals.

April 2009 - quite a change!

We discovered that the chapel was dedicated to Saint Vincenzo Ferreri, a Spanish Dominican monk, patron of peasants and bricklayers - the perfect saint for our fields and all farmhouses :-)

The altar containing the "consecration stone" before and after restoration

The pavement, original hexagonal cotto from the 1700s, had to be removed in 2015 in order to create a labyrinth to make air circulate underneath and thus protect the restored frescoes to be deteriorated from the humidity that kept arising from the ground.

The last anti-humidity works at the chapel

The chapel was inaugurated on the 19th of May 2009 with a small concert offered by two dear and historical guests. Tish and Frances have been organizing several music workshops at our agriturismo, teaching mainly Renaissance music. It was a unique experience to listen to their divine music.

If you happen to find the chapel door closed during your stay at our place, please remind us to open it. It is a place for rest, for meditation, for prayer or just where you can rest. We like to keep it as alive as possible and would be honored to host even a small wedding or a blessing.