Once upon a time there was a windmill. In San Donato

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– What are you talking about? Windmills on the hills around Florence? So far from the sea?
– Sure! Simply go to San Donato in Collina to see one.

On the Poggio della Merlaia, 385 meters above sea level, in front of the Villa della Torre a Cona, a cylindrical tower still stands today. The blades and sails have disappeared and, instead of a revolving cap on the rooftop, today we can see a crown of battlements, made subsequently.
Its construction took place towards 1766, when it became necessary to replace the four existing windmills on the towers of the nearby castle of Torre a Cona which the Marquis Folco Rinuccini wanted to transform into a sumptuous villa.
Its circular structure has all the features of the classic “tower” type windmills that can be found on the Tuscan coast and the Mediterranean islands. The size, openings, stairs, interior floors and a small room below to be used as a warehouse all match. There’s nothing left of the wood machinery given that, in the late nineteenth century, the mill ceased all activities and was transformed into a hunting watchtower. However the site retained the name “Molino a Vento” (Windmill), as can be read in an Arroto from 1887.
These artificial machines which exploited wind power were not very widespread in Italy and very rare in Tuscany, especially inside the peninsula.
After extensive research, we have discovered that, by drawing a hypothetical “windy axis” on paper from Poggio Firenze to Monti Giovi through the hills of Rignano sull’Arno and the Val di Sieve, besides that of Torre a Cona there are clear remains of other windmills in Miransù, Volognano, Poggiolino and Monterifrassine. This latter mill has been completely rebuilt with rotating blades and wooden contraptions and since 2001 is fully functional for teaching purposes.
Their origin dates back to the eighteenth century, a fertile period for agriculture when large landowners gathered at the Accademia dei Georgofili to study new cultural technology and innovations together.
In an area like ours, animated for centuries by the noise produced by hundreds of water mills, the presence of these windmills is a real discovery which makes our situation interesting and unique in Italy even in this respect.

Massimo Casprini

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