Orbano

Podere Orbano

Orbano is the name of the farmhouse at the northern end of Monticiano on SS 73, which was the main road between Siena and Grosseto before the SS 223 was built. According to Silvio Pieri, author of a book on place names in southern Tuscany and the Tuscan archipelago, the name Orbano comes from the Latin adjective urbanûm. Vestro used to say that the house took its name from Pope Urbanus (it is not sure which) who stayed there during a pilgrimage. This invention apart, it is not known when the farm was built, but it was already listed in the land registry of Leopold in 1821.

and was owned by "Barsini Pietro e dr. Giovanbattista di Andrea, Giulio di Giuseppe, Giovanna, Maddalena e Amalia del dr. Arcangiolo". The façade of the house is unusual and not typical of Tuscan rural architecture. The unusual feature is the external staircase perpendicular to the façade.

A picture of the house appears in a book on Tuscan country houses by the geographer Renato Biasutti.

The house is where the main road meets the secondary road used in the past by boar hunters returning to the village.

Vestro bought Orbano in 1965 with the idea of using the large stable space downstairs for a restaurant and upstairs, where the farmer's family lived, as inn and living quarters. The renovation was carried out by the architect, Roberto Gherardi of Siena, and was finished in 1979.