Just outside Montalcino's historic centre, on high ground along Via Osticcio — once the main road down to the Maremma — the church of the Madonna del Latte was probably built in the sixteenth century and remodelled in 1756. It belongs to the archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino.
Its position made it a travellers' church: anyone leaving Montalcino southwards passed right by it, among the last sacred buildings before the long descent towards the Maremma. The dedication to the Madonna del Latte — the nursing Madonna — points to a devotion once widespread in the Italian countryside, tied to the protection of mothers and infants.
What to see
The exterior works with very few elements: a plastered gabled facade, a rectangular doorway set on the central axis with a matching rectangular window above, and a brick staircase leading up to the entrance. Beside the church rises a small tower belfry housing four little bells.
Inside there is a single rectangular nave; the square chancel is set apart from the hall by a round arch and covered with a cross vault, while a barrel vault runs the length of the nave. It is an elementary, well-proportioned scheme — one room, one arch, two vaults — given its present appearance by the remodelling of 1756.
Visiting
The church is an easy walk from the centre along Via Osticcio, and the visit itself takes only a few minutes. Opening times are irregular, as with many churches outside the walls; even if the door is shut, the raised setting, the brick stairway and the little belfry make the short detour from the town walk worthwhile.
Our editors' tip
Walk Via Osticcio the way travellers once did, heading out of town: it is the best way to grasp why the church stands where it does, at the point where the Maremma road left the town behind. Then pause at the foot of the brick staircase and look up — facade, doorway and window resolve into a simple geometry, designed to be read from the road.