Certosa di Maggiano

The Carthusian monks who built this monastery in 1314 were serious people with serious requirements. Silence. Contemplation. Removal from the world's distractions. A hillside one kilometre outside Siena, surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, with views across the Tuscan countryside to the city's medieval towers — this was, by any standard, an excellent choice.

The monastery became a Relais & Châteaux hotel in 1978, designed by Renzo Mongiardino — the architect and interior designer whose work for the Rothschilds, the Agnellis, and the stage sets of Luchino Visconti established him as one of the defining aesthetic minds of the twentieth century. He understood the building. The interiors he created — impalpable silks, ornamental paintings, the particular quality of natural light that comes through very old windows — feel integral to the structure rather than applied to it. Fifteen rooms. Former monks' cells, transformed without apology into some of the most quietly beautiful accommodation in Tuscany.

The Rooms

Fifteen rooms and suites, each individually furnished in the Mongiardino manner — antiques, silks, premium linens, and the thick-walled silence of a medieval building. Some have private terraces looking onto the cloister garden. Some have views across the olive groves to the distant city. All have the sense of privacy that comes from a building that once housed people who had taken a vow of it. The outdoor saltwater pool sits in the monastery grounds with views across the Tuscan hills. Guests who have stayed both here and at the Grand Hotel Continental consistently describe these as complementary experiences — the city hotel and the monastery retreat, each doing something the other cannot.

Food & Drink

The restaurant Il Canto is overseen by chef Paolo Lopriore, whose cooking is described in the hotel's own literature as a multi-sensory journey — which sounds like marketing until you eat it, at which point it sounds like an understatement. The menu draws on the surrounding Sienese countryside with the intelligence of a kitchen that takes its ingredients personally. Breakfast is served in the courtyard or the cloister garden depending on the season, and is consistently cited as a standout — made-to-order smoothies, local products, and the unhurried pace of a place that has never been in a hurry. Ask the concierge about truffle hunting — guests who do, remember it.

The Experience

Tennis court, horse riding, cycling, Pilates, yoga, cooking classes, temporary art galleries — the monastery has acquired a full complement of activities without losing the quality of stillness that makes it worth coming to in the first place. Siena's Piazza del Campo is a twenty-five minute walk or a five-minute taxi ride. The city's museums, contrade, and cathedral are all within easy reach. But the honest reason to stay at Certosa di Maggiano is to not go anywhere for a day or two — to sit in the cloister garden with a glass of Brunello and let the seven-hundred-year-old building do what it has always done.

Worth Knowing

Fifteen rooms means it books quickly. Spring and autumn are the finest seasons — the olive groves are at their most beautiful and the crowds that besiege Siena in summer have thinned to something manageable. Some guests have noted occasional inconsistency in soundproofing between rooms — a minor note in a building of this age and character, but worth mentioning for light sleepers. The walk to Siena is genuinely pleasant in the morning when the road is quiet. Come back by taxi after dinner.

"Some hotels are beautiful. Some hotels are peaceful. Very few are both, at this level, this close to one of the great medieval cities of Italy."