Campalfi’s History goes back nearly 700 years
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Campalfi was built by monks from nearby Torri Abbey whose cloisters today (above)
are a jewel of architecture in the locality and in Italy as a whole. The ‘flying’
corner of the farmstead that one sees below is all that remains from the original
structure, built to take advantage of the fertile lands next to the River Merse.
Another relic of those ancient farming days is the channel with river water flowing
just a few meters from the house. This channel was dug by monks in 1560. It is
over a mile long! The purpose was to direct water towards a watermill further down
the valley, where grains would be ground into flour by huge stones moving under
the force of water and gravity. The city of Siena persuaded Torri Abbey to organize
the monks’ labor and the first five years’ of income from the mill were recompense
for that work.
