Poggibonsi

Poggibonsi, a really peculiar name: isn't it? It means just Poggio Bonizzo, Good Hillock, and it has a very original story too. This town it is at the northern border of Siena administrative territories. Over the border the Florence administrative area starts. You should know that during the XI century AD it was almost the same: but in those times this territorial division meant troubles.
Poggibonsi, the small town on the Elsa banks was called Borgo Marturi, how today is the name of a road, and Poggio Bonizzo was, it is clear, a hillock nearby. They say it was a new village built for defence needs (because the previous village was in the open valley) , it was full of churches, fountains and it had a nice street market with nice and good things to buy. But the villagers had an orrible rebellious character: they preferred to became allies of Siena instead of obeying Florence and day by day, the fighting ended with the full destruction of Poggibonsi in 1270, just after few years more than a hundred of existence. Of those times it rests only the fairies' fountain. The survivors came back to Borgo Marturi, considering that they could stay safer on the open valley. But they took with them the name and they kept it until today..