The village was most likely built on the foundations of an Etruscan village of Viclanus.
The village as we see it today shows a clear picture of medieval origin, an ancient fortress of defence and control of the Via Francigena, alredy recorded in 973 with its fortification (cum suo castro).
The name seems to derive from Rackis Hofen = territory, home place of Rackis, a king Lombard which legend attributes to the foundation of the Abbey of S.Salvatore on the mountain of Amiata: this was recorded in an ancient stele of the last Longobard King Desiderio.
The monks of the abbey had possession up until 1158 when Pope Eugenio III bought it, with the aim of controlling the Francigena to stop the advance troops of the Emperor Federico Barbarossa.
Pope Adrian IV, from 1154, built an impressive fortification which we can still see today. In the 13th century the village became famous also for the deeds of the gentleman robber “Ghino di Tacco”.
At the start of the 15th century the fort was leased to the republic of Siena, that extended it and moved the Francigena to the foot of the village, becoming its main road network, providing it with services and building a fort and customs for the control of traffic.
In 1555 they suffered the siege of the imperial troops “ The Medici” but they were not conquered. In 1559 they entered by treaty into the territory of the Medici who invested heavily in building a large wall, transforming the ramparts of the medieval fort and then building a huge Osteria that was run for centuries as an office post and large hotel.
In 1859 by plebiscite, Radicofani entered into the kingdom of Italy. The place of the vicariate regional center was thriving until the construction of the “autostrada del sole” which excluded it from big trades but … today we can also say that it lies preserved even by the building speculation, whilst maintaining a dominant position of the Val D’Orcia.