The Castello di Contignano in Val d’Orcia was probably built by the Farnese family in 1293 under the control of the San Salvatore Abbey, which ended in 1303, as they were entrusted to the Farnese family, through a resolution of the General Council of the Comune of Siena on the May 28th, becoming its actual owners. In 1339, the Castello di Contignano is mentioned for the first time in a document in which Pietro del fu Ranuccio di Farnese instructed two ambassadors to submit the castle, its court and district to the Comune of Siena. The Farnese remained lords of Contignano until the 6th August, 1390 when they sold it to Cione di Sandro Salimbeni, a rich and powerful Sienese citizen. His son Cocco, in open hostility with the Comune of Siena, was forced to subjugate his numerous castles and lands, including Contignano, to the Sienese, signing a peace treaty in 1404. Cocco resumed fighting against the Sienese, but in 1409 the population of Contignano rebelled against the Salimbeni and on December 7th of that year sent three ambassadors to Siena to offer their submission and swear allegiance. From that moment on, Contignano became a free municipality in the territory of the Sienese Republic. In 1608, Grand Duke Ferdinand I confirmed Contignano’s autonomy until Grand Duke Leopold II of Habsburg-Lorraine suppressed it along with many other communes of the Florentine State on January 1st, 1778. On March 30th, 1501 despite the pacts, the Sienese sold the lands of Contignano, but not the Castle, to Antonio Giordano da Venafro, a prominent figure in 16th-century Siena who, in 1515, after a dispute with Borghese Petrucci, left Siena and its lands. Subsequently, the property passed to the Sienese Bianchi – Bandinelli family. In 1876, ownership of the entire Cassero and part of the walls was acquired by the Muziarelli family, the current owners.