Excursions out of Florence --- The windmill of Monterifrassine

Do you have a day off? Take a ride to --- THE WINDMILL OF MONTERIFRASSINE . Tuscany is not a windy territory, if not on the coast and in some mountain areas. For this reason, over the centuries the mills to grind wheat have been pushed by the water of the streams, especially abundant in the Apennines, and not by the wind, like in North Europe. But in the 1700s and early 1800s, at the time of the Enlightenment, the great landowners, encouraged by the Grand Dukes of Lorraine, gathered in the Georgofili Academy and studied and experimented new agricultural techniques.  And so some windmills were built. Most on the coast, but some inland. Four of these, with the characteristic shape of a truncated cone tower, have been identified. One, near Monterifrassine (Pontassieve), 15 km from Florence, has been completely renovated: the masonry, the rotating cusp and the blades, but also the gears for grinding inside, made of wood. Legend says that Leonardo da Vinci studied the gears of these millstones, leaving drawings and projects that would be the basis of these machines, sometimes referred to as "Leonardesche". The mill is part of a large farm, which also includes a restaurant, which also specializes in parties and weddings. A table is set in the mill, then served from the restaurant. If anyone is interested… maybe for your own wedding…. . Take the road east along the Arno river until Pontassieve, then left up the hill towards Monterifrassine.