Setting the navigation system to reach a desired destination... Tuscany, Siena, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Mensanello location... would be like opening a Matrioska, starting from the famous Tuscany, going through the charming Siena of the Palio, passing to the microarea of Colle di Val d'Elsa, the city of Cristallo, and finally ending up in the small farming village named Mensanello... and this is where Villa Sabolini is located. Some know it as the home of the Bishop of Mensanello, others know it as the old Archbishop's Seminary, and some pass in front of its walls every day not knowing what lies beyond them. The charming, concealed house leaves you astonished as soon as you see it... As soon as you enter the gate of Villa Sabolini, you are confronted with the beauty of an ancient historic residence from the 15th century, surrounded by an Italian garden with secular trees where just walking makes you breathe in the air and charm of the past. The Villa owes its name to an important family of the Colle Val d'Elsa area, The Sabolini, the last heir of which, Archpriest Amerigo Sabolini, decided to use the Villa as a retreat residence during his last years. Later, it was the dwelling of the Venturi-Gallerani Family, whose family coat of arms it still bears, and they were the masters until after the Second World War. And it was precisely during that period that the Villa acquired strategic importance for the Italian artistic heritage! Tales say that during the Second World War, some clergymen tried to save works of art from the Nazi plundering by hiding them in the secluded Convents, Villas, Monasteries in the Italian countryside. In 1943, art scholar Frank Stokes convinced the President of the United States of America to gather a group of architects and art experts, enlisting them in the army, with the aim of finding, around the invaded European countries, all the works of art stolen by Adolf Hitler. This group of soldier-art experts was named The Monuments Men. In the summer of 1944, Frank Stokes was touring the Tuscan countryside, searching for one of the most famous pieces for our cultural heritage and... it was when he arrived in the small village of Mensanello, in the Villa once called the Bishop's Villa that, meticulously stowed away inside a wooden crate, he found the beautiful piece of “Maestà di Duccio Boninsegna”, transported from the Museum of the Opera of Siena to Villa Sabolini to hide and protect it from enemy plundering. After the Second World War, Mrs. Flavia, the last of the Venturi-Gallerani dynasty left, at her death not having any children, everything to the Diocese of Siena which made it into a Seminary. The Villa has been converted into a hotel for the past 10 years to allow our guests to admire and enjoy the charm of Living in the Past! Villa Sabolini has 40 rooms all finely decorated with elegant and sober style, canopy beds, terrazzo or cotto floors and bathrooms with precious marble act as a frame for a relaxing holiday in the Tuscan countryside. Completing everything is our Sabolini Restaurant, with its welcoming terrace, a place for Tuscan culinary tradition, where each day our Chef rediscover and reinterpret the territory's products to offer our guests the taste and flavour of time. Dishes that are born from tradition, using genuine seasonal ingredients in a simple yet refined way, making each tasting a small fragment of the unique stay memory. With its elegant style, the dining room becomes the ideal place for a candlelight dinner, for intimate receptions and unforgettable occasions. We look forward to making you enjoy an unforgettable stay... JUST LIKE HOME!!!