La vita sulle tranquille colline di Montebeni, devastate dai danni dell’alluvione e disseminate ovunque dalle cicatrici della battaglia🎖️ 🪖 🪖

Peaceful Montebeni, flood-ravaged, its hills littered with ammunition from World War II and the 1600s.

Montebeni is beautiful on a clear day, bright and peaceful, yet renting old houses often brings storm damage, damp walls, black mould worries, and an endless battle for clean air. Being outdoors can feel healthier than living indoors but on days like this, it's borderline bodacious!

Beautiful blue sky over the Church of San Michele a Muscoli in Fiesole Metropolitan City of Florence. A small church dating back to the 14th century and gets its name from Monte Muscoli one of the hills north of Fiesole neighbouring Montebeni on which it stands

San Michele a Muscoli is mentioned as a church community of the parish of Fiesole as early as 1260. At that time, the parish was made up mostly of farmers who worked the land owned by the powerful Mancini family, who controlled the area from Baccano to the top of Mount Fanna for centuries. Because of the Mancini family’s long dominance, it is likely that the church of San Michele was originally their family chapel, even though it was kindly open to the public.

Usually fallow deer in Fiesole

Found this on yesterday's dog stroll. They naturally fall off in the winter months.

Beauty and charm in a battered old post box - character beats perfection any day. Owner has now left.

Post box at a nearby home renovation

A little church just up the road in Montebeni in the Comune di Fiesole. https://www.comune.fiesole.fi.it/

Ponte a Mensola Settignano, Montebeni

In April 2025, after nine months of renting a beautiful lemonary 'limonaia' in Baronta, not too far from Galluzzo and a lovely area called Marignolle ~ a stone's throw from the centre of Florence, we moved to our new rental in the picturesque ("chocolate box") hamlet of Montebeni, on the fringes of the city, up in the hills. We immediately found wonderful mountain walks, fresh herbs, flowers, fruit and nuts to be pick and spectacular vistas from this location. Here's an example of the edible plant Borage ~ Borragine growing wild and the panoramas to be enjoyed from hilly Montebeni.

Views from Montebeni. The plant Borage 'Borragine' is a versatile herb with edible leaves, stems, and star-shaped bluey/purple flowers tasting like fresh cucumbers. Delicious, refreshing and a classy touch to any dish

This is our Montebeni rental, once owned by Valerio Micheli Pellegrini, recognised as Europe’s first plastic surgeon. He lived here with his family and left the house to his two daughters, now our octogenarian Italian landladies. The prestigious 'Centro Studio Valerio Micheli Pellegrini' bears his name. A pioneer of rhinoplasty, one can only imagine how many elegant aquiline noses passed through his hands. Does that sound weird? His legacy lives on via extensive medical archives on site, endless books and brochures, and a yearly conference held in his name and via his securely stored patient file 'slides' from the 1960s and 70s. BTW I've been reading his Rotary club magazines with a vengeance, beats Italian class.

The front courtyard looking decidedly leaf-free. Vacating this in February when we move to our bought house

The owners left a ride-on mower, thankfully 👍

However, the roof has collapsed in since this photograph and the guttering is now precariously resting on the front porch. A pile of heavy ceramic rubble has fallen and created a mess on the terracotta terrace. Who said life was relaxing in hillside Florence?! Also, because of the roof leak, the internal damp is seriously kicking-in and we sprayed the ceilings and walls to try and keep it all under control.

After a night of deluge it collapsed in, causing internal damp patches and the external danger of falling debris. Scaffolding being erected tomorrow.

Disastro! The joys of renting come with rainwater damage, but conveniently, the construction company is arriving tomorrow to erect scaffolding. Perfect timing, as always, with Christmas and New Year imminent and major academic deadlines on the horizon. Here’s hoping the inevitable 'clanking' to come doesn’t make concentrating too difficult during my hard dissertation graft ahead.

That said, we settled in super well since arriving in Florence in August 2024. Though, were totally unprepared for the challenges that followed - and perhaps the property issues are as unexpected for us as our landladies. Problem is, the biblical rain here doesn't stop for hours sometimes. It pelts it down and is much heavier than I've ever known in the UK. Despite this, life in Montebeni, with its capricious weather and feeble rentals, curious back lanes, woodland walks and stunning views over Tuscan valleys, is generally more relaxed than UK-life and offers a good balance of country and city activities.

More of a cold water dip than a pool, and the well has no ladder, so once that top is off, it's a long way down!

The area has a long history on record, from Etruscan and Roman settlements to many centuries of conflict, and more latterly the WW2 where a large amount of ammunition and shrapnel lies under the top layer of soil, waiting on avid metal detectorists, like me, to find it.

Just a few of the bullets found in the last few months. I've uncovered many more since this photo was taken

Stone whispering has its place here too. Huge megaliths line the rural back roads, which leaves many intrigued as to whether they're natural bed rock, or once part of an ancient structure (wall or building)

Always pondering on the original use of some of the big roadside blocks

Here is some ammunition recently found by my metal detector in the back garden. Some shrapnel from Anti-aircraft munitions and a trigger and barrel from a 1950's toy metal gun. The history of onslaught in this area covers the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines in the 12th and 13th centuries and the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, as well as the siege of Florence in the early 16th century. All these challenged the tranquility and political quietness of Montebeni along with WW2. Hence why the gardens are riddled with shrapnel and dead and live ammunition. I now have approximately 200+ anti-aircraft balls, C16th musket balls and many intact live bullets so far.

Check the base stamps on the bullets. Many of them are made in Milano, and others left unmarked, or American, Canadian, German and British. This photo below (of an anti-aircraft missile from ww2) places where the WW2 shrapnel pieces found in our back garden originate from, the base of its shell. Makes sense to have those huge killing machines stationed on the hills in Montebeni, closer to enemy air raids when fighting to regain control of Italy. It's the middle picture of the three above that this relates to.

Comes from the base of the shell here. The body of a pistol or rifle bullet is copper. It’s sufficiently hard to survive being fired at high velocity and also soft enough not to strip the rifling from the barrel. Artillery or anti aircraft shells are made mostly of steel which causes the damage on impact, but they need that copper strip/drive band to aid accuracy and not destroy the barrels they’re being fired through. I did not find this missile.

The jagged metal parts are missile shell fragments. Here's my trusty steed below!

Keeping warm but muddy in the olive grove, whilst digging up mostly bullets and shrapnel pieces

Riveting find ~ a 1986 dog tag, registered at the local Comune di Fiesole!

My first (of many to come) Roman coins, but in a poor condition.

Bullet stamp is not always visible, but a real mix of nationalities being dug up. Supposed to hand them into the local police, but they'll probably think I'm a bit of a tit doing that.

Some of the bullets are British, left by ally troops fighting to free Italy from Nazi occupation (1944 in Florence)

The ally line ran all the way from the West to the East coast of Italy. The amount of British and Commonwealth men sent in to secure Italy from the Germans was staggering... In the thousands

In Roman times, roads linked Florentia to the Arno Valley and the Apennines, serving mainly agricultural land divided into small holdings that later became medieval farms and villas. By the Middle Ages, Montebeni was part of Florence’s contado, the rural belt that sustained and protected the city. Quite big houses around here and an expensive area to buy in, hence we rent only here. The Gucci family live on our road and the daughter runs past me in designer gear, looking rather pedigree in the early hours!

Good blog on Medieval hillside villages https://www.medieval.eu/agrarian-life-early-medieval-hilltop-villages-italy/

In the Middle Ages, hundreds of labourers lived in small hillside villages and farms all across Tuscany, working the land and rarely traveling far from home. Today, those same landscapes lead down into the busy city of Florence, where hurried folk zip through tight streets and tornante bends in FIAT 500s. The setting has changed from fields to traffic and tourists, but the connection between daily life and the shape of the land is still easy to see and enjoy if you make sure to take the time to.

I've had two white FIAT 500s, but both are in the UK. It's ironic that we have a right hand drive [dumbass] big 4x4 here, but will soon acquire a left hand drive FIAT, and sort out our Italian driving licences, since that's essential after one year of living here full-time.

Some random neighbour's FIAT, which looks like a toy car, in fact, I feel like Robert Wadlow alongside it

Here's a pretty view down the valley into the olive groves and vineyards and off into the distance towards Siena. Many locals grow their own vegetables, herbs, spices and fruit too. Our neighbour's fig trees has nearly lost all its leaves (see pics below). There are two friendly goats in another neighbour's back lawn, who Daisy dog likes to salute every morning.

Loud with cicadas in the summer

Usain Bolt cat equivalent. She doesn't know that Daisy is a cat lover

Daily dog walks offer many variations of the hilly pot-holed lanes through olive groves and round ancient houses and small holdings that have seen many olive and vineyard harvests over the years. In fact the local olive pressing factory is called Frantoio Buonamici, which refers to a specific, high-quality Italian producer of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), an "Azienda Agricola" (farm) that operates a modern Frantoio (olive mill) near Fiesole, Tuscany.

Frantoio Buonamici

It's focused on producing healthy, flavoursome oils with low acidity, using advanced cold-pressing techniques to preserve antioxidants and aromas. I'd say it's one of the best in Florence - with a snazzy restaurant and shop to enjoy there too. A bucket list entry.

<- <- <- Thataway -> -> ->

The olive mill's premises are reminiscent of a Bond villain's pad and I'm also convinced that the huge stones surrounding it are repurposed from some ancient structure, heaven forbid it has been compromised by a keen entrepreneur's newbuild. https://buonamici.it/en/the-olive-mill/ Here is a photo of the hills near the olive mill, and another castle... One of many, thanks to the Medici family, whose keen eye for property left Tuscany brimming with fortresses built with pots of money and style.

An idyllic Tuscan residence, complete with acreage and well tended olive trees

Sometimes the olive trees have big sticky pads dangling to catch the many flies that can impact on the fruit yield

Below shows the huge blocks on the periphery of the Frantoio Buonamici premises, which to me really look like they were part of an old Roman fort or similar, TBC. I'm on it.

Visible huge boulders around the border of the new-ish build. Photo taken from rear of property near gardener warm house. A little empty stone cottage with a stove and seating area - very cute and inviting.

Recommend olive oil sold all year round in the local shop, 'Esselunga'. Better still, head to Frantoio Buonamici for the best stuff. It's all about the organic cold extraction of extra virgin olive oil and the love that goes into that

Only 6 minutes in the car is Fiesole, where there is "The Archaeological Area of Fiesole ...delimited on the North by the Etruscan city walls and contains the Etrusco-Roman temple, the Roman Theatre and the Roman Thermal Baths. A Lombard cemetery was also discovered in the sacred area near the Etrusco-Roman Temple." Museo di Fiesole https://www.museidifiesole.it/

Photo "borrowed" from the Fiesole Museum website

Aside from all the incredible history and views, another reason why we love the space that comes with this rental is because PennyB (our 50 year old Hermann tortoise ~ Tartaruga di terra) has the run of the entire backl garden olive grove. She loves it, and nibbles all the dandelions and friendly weeds, whilst indulging in fresh veggies and salad from me, with an occasional aloe vera leaf for good skin care. 🤣 She is thriving in the Florentine sunshine, though currently in hibernation for the winter, until early Springtime. The damp and wet of England over more months than in Italy, is something we doubt our little sentient PennyB misses at all.

Three or so more months in hibernation and then she is up for early Spring

Dandelions grow huge here

Some days, my dog walks are at exactly the same pace as her 🐢. Hence the glove-to-face in this photo below, hiding my tired eyes and recent laser treatment for sun damage. But this piece isn’t about me, it’s about life here and how profoundly different it is from the one we left behind in the UK, in Chesterfield. Our countryside home in England, was a blue-plaqued 16th-century Old Manor House, complete with a converted 14th-century dairy at the rear, four manicured gardens, a well, a veggie garden, lots of tall wild poppies and a handy raftered garage. A world apart from this current reality!

Anonymity only exists if you hide, as everyone here is super friendly on my daily dog walk

Lots of trekking signs are sprayed on walls and trees in the area ~ similar to the GR11 and Alta Via routes, with occasional backpackers and cyclists taking on the super steep lanes, olive tree avenues and circuitous country paths. It's pretty remote up here and tends to get busy in the hillside towns more so compared to the smaller villages like Montebeni, or during summer months where families have more open air parties and the noise carries and I await my invite. (Thats another story - slow burners!)

Excellent local trails, including sections of the ancient Etruscan path (Toscana Terra Etrusca) and the Via degli Dei (Gods' Way) part, plus scenic routes like the Fiesole via Firenze San Marco loop, connecting historic sites and natural beauty for great day hikes and walks. 

Orange and pink berries in a nearby hedgerow, not sure what they're called but they really stand out.

Favourite tipple, standard Aperol Spritz. Have detoured away from it, but soon came back.

"Saluti", summery all year round

Crazy, crazy paving.

High maintenance crazy paving! My handiwork

One very well exercised and happy dog, No small rental in the city centre for her (same rental price!)

Hedgehog sniff after a swim in the nearby lagoon

Minutes walk from my house, it's cleaner and more welcoming in late Spring/Summer before the water stops running completely

The Cascate del Sambra waterfall near Montebeni, in the hills near Florence, comes from the Sambre stream. A cool, peaceful place with clean, wild scenery, ideal for hiking and enjoying nature close to the city. While the lower areas can be polluted, the spot remains popular for its natural beauty rather than formal facilities and can get busy with youth sod-casting and Daisy dog trying to save lives of the kids jumping in, that are just having fun.

Headed back to these rocks to check them out again, as it's an interesting formation whether natural or not

Places to go but you can't, at least not without being fairly vigilant and profusely apologetic if found!

What makes Montebeni especially charming is its atmosphere of everyday Tuscan life. Bells from nearby churches drift across the hills, walkers, runners and cyclists pass through on the old paths, and the landscape tells the story through its ancient farmhouses, sloping olive groves and immaculate vineyards. The closer to the city you get, the faster the pace and if you visit Florence and don't experience the windy roads that lead to Montebeni and the views from afar over the city, you really are missing out on something quite special. And if you do move here, just make sure the property is storm proof!