Lajatico, Orciatico | Windmills Ruins

A few minutes walk from the medieval hamlet of Orciatico are the ruins of two windmills (XVII century, only one restored) from which you can enjoy a panorama that sweeps up to the Rocca di Pietracassia.

Why windmills here ? the water mills in the territory had a reduced potentiality: the torrent used for water supply had a limited capacity and in the summer period were often dry. This is how the need for an alternative form of energy was born, one that would allow milling in every period of the year.

The two windmills reflect the classical typologies of this kind of construction: they are tower-shaped with a stone body arranged on two floors and a rotating wooden turret. They were also built in a circular shape (with an internal diameter of about 4 meters and a height of 7 meters) and positioned at the top of the hillock to be invested by the winds. It was up to the skill of the miller to choose the deployment of the sails and the orientation of the blades. The loading system of the cereal was similar to the one used for water mills. The limits of windmills were due to the low power developed and to the precariousness of wooden structures.