FATTORIA DI MARENA

FARM LIFE AND FARM TALES

A LAND THAT IS FAMILY, HISTORY, CULTURE

How to show the pride and affection that bind us to this land? Land that is also family, history, culture. How to tell our experience to share it with our guests and also with those who meet us for the first time on the Internet?

So, as well as a detailed picture of the offer of accommodation on a farm, we wanted to offer a summary of everything there is on the farm, of the beauty of the nature that surrounds us, of an everyday experience that completes and enriches our life.
The Fattoria di Marena occupies about 170 hectares. The main area, about 100 hectares, surrounds the typical buildings of the true Tuscan Farm: the ancient manor house (of which a restoration is documented in 1722, of which we can still see traces) with the garden and the small chapel, the dwelling of the farmer, the farmhouses, the warehouses and the stables. The land is divided into fields sown with wheat, maize, sunflower, potatoes, alfalfa and other forages depending on the crop rotation, pasture and coniferous and deciduous forest. In the pastures of the Fattoria di Marena a particular breed of cattle is bred: the CHIANINA BREED, typical of Tuscany and Umbria and in particular of the provinces of Arezzo, Siena and Perugia.
We have a bull, about 30 cows and calves. The Chianina breed is the largest breed in the world, a long time ago the cows and the oxen (castrated males) were used to pull the plow and work the fields because they were strong and resistant: a Chianin bull can weigh 1500 kilos (15 quintals) and sometimes reaches 1700, that is like a big car. The adults are white porcelain and with the muzzle (tip of the nose), the horns and the black hooves, the little ones are instead of a characteristic brownish color: even growing their coat will become white. Our animals live on pasture from May to October, they are kept inside the barn from the end of October to the beginning of May. The diet is mainly produced in the farm: hay of alfalfa and grasses, corn and barley flour. The Chianina breed in the past risk to disappear because no one wanted to breed it, they are animals of a proud nature, challenging for the breeder, now the amateurs of this wonderful breed have increased and is also bred in South America and Australia: the meat of Chianina is among the best in the world and used to prepare Florentine steak. Many breeders are real enthusiasts and often gather to do exhibitions and beauty pageants see a lot of giant bulls on a leash as puppies is really an exciting show.
Le asinelle
Bovini Highland
Le caprette
Out of curiosity, desire to experiment ... we have added a milk cow to the majestic Chianine cows, the nice "CAROLINA" Red Pezzata, and also two Highlander, two small red-haired mammouth. On the farm we also host the darling of all children: goats. And also a small group of sheep ... bunnies and hens, the sweet little donkeys, many cats and a golden-breed female dog, friend of the children. Scopri la nostra storia

History of the Nati Poltri Family and of the Farm

Illustrazione del volumeto sulla "Bizzarria"
la cappellina
Teresa Nati Poltri
Nato Nati Poltri bambino
Eleonora Nati Poltri
Il Lago di Marena
Stemma "Nati"

Family history we know begins in 1350, when a SilvesterNati (=son of Donato or Nato) was elected as a Priore in the govern of Florence. He came from the art of "Cassettari" (making wood furniture) and that gives a sense to the family coat of arms: a nothched band (saw) and 2 stars. After Silvester, we had a Filippo and a Donato who was member of the major art of "Campsores" (money changer and bankers) and lived in Venice for a while, and Donato's son Sebastiano (Bastiano) who bought some properties in Casentino valley. Bastianus' nephew Francesco was a "free lance" knight who also worked as "Capitano" with the famous Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (a member of the Medici family). Francesco received from the Medici family (who ruled Tuscany) the permission to join his coat of arms with Medici's one. Then we had a long line of lawyers and physicians. The first Pietro (Piero) Nati was a physician, lived in Florence and married a girl of the Capponi family. We still have a book of memories he wrote. His tomb is in front of the main altar of Ognissanti's church in Florence. You can still go there and find his coat of arms with Nati and Capponi symbols. But we must wait for his grandson, who was Piero Nati the second, to start with the Fattoria di Marena history: Piero was born in 1624, lived in Florence and managed the Botanical Garden of the University of Pisa (The oldest Botanical Garden in the world founded by Cosimo dei Medici in 1544). He was a school-friend of the scientist Francesco Redi and there was some correspondence between them. During the year 1692 the Fattoria di Marena was about to be sold by auction after the Rondinelli family went bankrupt: on hearing about the auction Piero Nati immediately hurried down to Rome to put in their bid. He restored the main house and the farm and made Marena his country residence. Piero died in 1717, at the age of 93, and was followed by:
Francesco,who was a pysician at the Medici's court and treated in Livorno Carlo di Borbone, who was going about to become the king of Naples (1737: the Medici family died out and Lorena succeeded to the Granducato of Tuscany),
Francesco's brother Domenico and his sons: Nato Andrea, Pietro Gasparo (who was a physician at the Neapolitan Court) Andrea Vitaliano: the little Family Chapel was built in 1730 to allow Andrea Vitaliano, who was a priest, to celebrate the mass near the house.
The surname Nati became Nati Poltri in 1750, when the family inherited the title of COMMENDATORE dell'ORDINE di S.STEFANO from an extinct branch of the Poltri family.
Pietro Gasparo's son Lodovico, who married Johanna Humbourg (the sister of Alessandro Humbourg, a minister at the court of Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena, in Florence). Johanna was the first Nati, being a widow, who decided to live at Marena all the year around.
Lodovico and Johanna's son, Cesare, had a degree in Law, but preferred country life and planting trees: so much so that he was nicknamed " San Pinolo " (St. Pineseed). He was also the mayor of Bibbiena for a long period: in 1861 he completed the building of the village acqueduct. He also created the drainage system of the plain near Marena, thereby reducing the river-bed of the Archiano. Cesare had a brother, Pietro, who owned other family estates and married a rich lady in Romagna, so he was well known there as the "signore dai 100 poderi" (Lord of the 100 properties) Some of his descendants still live in Romagna.
Cesare's son was Commendatore Alessandro, founder of the "Pro Montibus et Silvis Aretina" (an association devoted to developing the local woods) and promoter of some other associations for the development of the countryside, Alessandro's son Nato who died at the age of 42 of injiuries after a car accident.
So we arrive to the two sons of Nato ed Eleonora Marcucci Poltri: GiovanPiero and Alessandro, who beloved and took care of the farm with his wife Anna Maria, and his sons and grandsons.

Foto 2010... da aggiornare!
" Father Alessandro left us in 2010. We continue to invest in structures, skills, machinery and genetic improvement of animals, thus guaranteeing the present and betting on the future of the Fattoria di Marena. "Anna Maria, daughter Isabella with Fabio Ferri and her children Chiara and Francesco Douglas, son Piero with his wife Valentina Balloni and her sons Sebastiano and Arianna. And our collaborators: Filippo, Graziano, Rossana and Vera