ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION
The Chianina is probably the oldest breed of cattle in the world. According to Pliny the Elder, it is a direct descendant of the prehistoric ox (Bos primigenius or auroch) and is portrayed in prehistoric rock paintings.
There is a long-running debate among academics as to whether it is native or comes from the Orient, but there is no doubt that its phenotype has been moulded in the image and likeness of the Italic lands where it has evolved.
Etruscans and Romans used it as a draught animal and, thanks to its white coat, it was often exhibited in celebratory processions or sacrificed to the divinities.
The Chianina owes its morphology and name to the Valdichiana, a region straddling the provinces of Siena and Arezzo which the majestic bovine helped reclaim in its early role as tractor.
It goes without saying that the Valdichiana must be considered as the only and unique habitat par excellence of the Chianina.