Eremo di Lecceto Sovicille

The Hermitage of Lecceto is the most famous Augustinian Hermitage founded in the land of Siena. It was built in the middle of an ilex grove, in an area called Ghirlanda located about 1 km. from San Leonardo al Lago. We do not know the name of the founder or the year of foundation of this hermitage. The oldest document in which it is mentioned dates back to 18 September1223. We only know that when the hermitage and the church were built, the complex was dedicated to SS. Salvatore and S.Maria Vergine.

The prior Bandino Balzetti of Siena, in 1227 he bought twelve plots of land, one of which subsequently will be transformed into a farm. The church was consecrated on April 16, 1228. Between 1317 and 1345 an enlargement was carried out that led to the construction of a new church and a new convent. On that occasion, an internal cloister and a portico with paintings attributed to Paolo di Maestro Neri were also built.

The only element left of the original hermitage is the cistern wanted by Bandino in 1228. Many friars of great spiritual temperance used to retreat into contemplation in this convent and many were the blessed, even if the church has never sanctified one. Among these, Chistoforo by Giovanni Landucci who from 1390 and for about seventy years lived in humility, simplicity, prayer, reflection, obedience. He was also a great worker so much that the tower of the convent was designed and inaugurated by him. The convent over the centuries became so famous that some Sienese aristocrats wanted to be buried there. Many donations were acquired by Lecceto, including Montalcinello, a legacy of Francesco di Niccolò Bartalini Buonsignori. At the end of the fifteenth century new enlargement works were planned which continued until the beginning of the 16th century.

In 1550 a second dormitory was added, above the chapter hall at the eastern end of the cloister. A second cloister, financed largely by the bishop of Pienza, Girolamo Piccolomini, was begun a decade later at the western end of the convent. During the siege of Siena by the Florentines in 1554, Lecceto was invaded by a detachment of enemy troops, who plundered the place and hunted them all.

After the war between Siena and Florence, the church underwent profound internal changes, both to repair the damage due to the invasion, and for embellishment. The style followed was decidedly baroque. In the seventeenth century, Ambrogio Landucci, elected prior in 1634, enriched Lecceto with a library and an archive. He himself wrote two books: the Sacra Ilicetana Sylva and the Sacra Leccetana Selva. Some documents testify how Lecceto in the early 1700s was still very active and underwent further improvements to the church and the monastery.