Castle Meleto

Castle Meleto is about a 5-min drive from the villa and the closest castle to us. Although it started out as a monastery, then as a summer home for the Firidolfi branch of the Ricasoli family as well as part of the defense for Florence against Siena, it is now a winery. During our tour of the castle, we noticed a blue lion shield, which is the same one on our villa. We were told that there were four branches of the Ricasoli family and the blue lion identified the Firidolfi branch. The fact that our villa also bears the same shield means that not only did our villa belong to Castle Meleto, but it was also part of the greater Ricasoli estate.