The slow passage of time to the present day

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History of Il Defizio

Founded around 1400, not far from the parish of Pisignano, Il Defizio belonged to the church, and was in the community of Montignoso, the most important "factory" where the earth was converted to make the vitriol.

We are in 1580. The priest Angelo de Rossi, as evidenced by the documents, rents it to a certain Jacopo Guidi who, thanks to his entrepreneurial skills, concentrates in his hands also the other buildings for the same activity. Some other rural houses with outbuildings for agriculture, were added, over time, to that original group.

And today, thanks to a careful restoration work, Il Defizio has become a charming country house where you will arrive, and when you leave, you feel the desire to return.

There is always something new to discover, if you are in Tuscany. Try to pronounce the name Defizio.
You will leave for a time travel, along the ancient road which goes from Florence to Volterra, traveling through Gambassi Terme and the Castagno. A grid of paths, sometimes also touched by the Via Francigena.

There have been many changes from 1580, but Il Defizio remains a simple but comfortable home for families of farmers who work everyday the land made available by the farm “La Striscia” and reap its fruit both for their family and the owners of the farm. This type of use continues until the early 70s, then it is just occasionally rented to families that want to spend some weekends in the country, this happens until the late 80s, when it is finally abandoned.

It remains the same until the late 90s, most precisely, until 2000 when the complex of houses, barns, sheds for farm machinery, etc. ... and called many centuries before “Il Defizio”, is purchased by Biancanelli Family of Gambassi Terme.

The history of Il Defizio as it is today starts here, and thus in the summer nights of 2000, during the outdoor dinners in the "watches" that Mr. and Mrs. Biancanelli were (and are) used to have to gather under their roof the whole family which included, besides them, also two daughters who got married in the meantime and now also have three grandchildren.

It is during these dinners that arises the idea of Mr. Biancanelli to try to build a future for his two daughters, a different future, as far away as possible from what had been until that day and for a few more years, his main activity, that is the manufacturer of ladies' shoes, which he had started in the late '60s and continued with success until 2005.

So, after having proposed this idea in the family and having collected the complete availability of his daughters and their husbands to take this route, he starts looking for a place in the hills surrounding the town of Gambassi Terme that can make a real start to this dream. After visiting many abandoned buildings, or nearly so, he learns of the possibility of buying a group of buildings called "Il Defizio", located about 8 km from the town centre of Gambassi Terme.

It is during a visit to this complex that he remains almost dazzled by the beauty of the landscape that surrounds this group of buildings abandoned for a long time and from which the view ranges over the whole Val d'Era until Volterra and beyond.

The landscape that appeared to his eyes was practically untouched for centuries, no new constructions could be seen nearby, only woods, some farm buildings and plots of cultivated land is what today we can see from the windows of Il Defizio.

At the same time, however, he falls in love with the beautiful arrangement of those buildings, now abandoned for too long, and he imagines, already in this first visit, what Il Defizio would soon become, after a laborious and careful work of restoration in the complete respect of the characteristics of the original building and typical of the Tuscan style: an elegant and cozy resort, managed in a familiar and passionate way by his two daughters with their husbands. 

We want to transmit the passion, love and attention that Mr. Biancanelli and his family have put into creating this resort, to all visitors who choose to spend their vacation at Il Defizio, a little piece of Tuscany with the typical characteristics of the people that live here and that will do everything possible to remain forever in their hearts.

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