places to visit
siena
Siena, located in the heart of Tuscany and surrounded by hills, is one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Italy.
The fulcrum of the city is the famous Piazza del Campo, with its particular shell shape, where the famous Palio, one of the most important events for all the Sienese, is held. The Palio di Siena is a passionate horse race that takes place every year, in July and August and its origins seem to date back to the seventeenth century.
According to legend, Siena was founded by Senio, son of Remus, and in the city there are several statues depicting the mythical Romulus and Remus suckled by the she-wolf. Piazza del Campo is the central nucleus of Siena since the time of the Romans, who had their Forum here.
The square was repaved during the Government of the Nine, a semi-democratic group in power between 1287 and 1355, with a division into nine sections in memory of the Government and symbolizes the cloak of the Madonna who protects the city.
The Campo is dominated by the red Palazzo Pubblico and its tower, called Torre del Mangia. The Palazzo Pubblico, as well as the Cathedral of Siena, was built during the Government of the Nine, which was the period of maximum economic and cultural splendour of Siena. Today the Palace still houses the offices of the Municipality, similarly to Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. From the inner courtyard of the Palace you can access the Civic Museum and the Torre del Mangia, at the top of which, climbing the 500 steps, you can enjoy a splendid view of the city.
In the Civic Museum are preserved some of the most beautiful paintings of the Sienese school. The Consistory Hall offers one of the most beautiful works by Domenico Beccafumi, who frescoed its ceilings painting the Cycle of Public Virtues. In the Sala del Mappamonto and in the Sala della Pace (or Sala dei Nove) then there are real masterpieces: the great Majesty and the equestrian portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano at the siege of Montemassi by Simone Martini and the Allegories of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, considered one of the greatest pictorial cycles of the Middle Ages.
san gimignano
San Gimignano, a small fortified town halfway between Florence and Siena, is famous for its architecture and its beautiful medieval towers that make the city profile really unique.
In the most prosperous period, the rich families of San Gimignano built 72 towers as a symbol of their well-being and power. Of these, 14 remain today, which contribute to make the city's atmosphere even more fascinating.
Declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990, San Gimignano is one of the small pearls of the province of Siena and also offers excellent local products such as saffron and white wine called Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
pienza
Pienza is a small village in the south of Tuscany, in the famous Val d'Orcia, absolutely to visit. It is located about 20 km east of Montalcino and a few km west of Montepulciano in the beautiful region of Val d'Orcia south of Siena, among soft and poetic hills and fabulous views. Pienza enjoys a truly strategic position perched on top of a hill, overlooking the entire Orcia valley with breathtaking views.
This enchanting village is widely known as the "ideal" city of the Renaissance, created by the great humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who later became Pope Pius II. Piccolomini had the economic possibilities and influence to transform his humble native village, Corsignano, into what he believed should be a utopian city, which was to embody the principles and philosophy of the classical age and the great Italian Renaissance.
The project was carried out by the architect Bernardo known as Rossellino, under the guidance of the great humanist Leon Battista Alberti. In just 3 years a complex of beautiful and harmonious buildings was built: the Cathedral, the Papal residence or Palazzo Piccolomini, the Town Hall, and the enchanting central square.
Piazza Pio II has a form of great harmony that gives great dignity and solemnity to all the surrounding buildings, built in travertine stone, which gives them a clear honey colour. On one side of the square, you can admire a beautiful well, known as the "dog well".
The Duomo or Cathedral of the Assumption houses important and remarkable paintings by the most renowned artists of the time, while the beautiful octagonal shaped bell tower rises above the ancient crypt pointing straight to the sky.
montalcino
Montalcino, città del Brunello.
A sud di Siena si trova un incantevole borgo medievale, quasi fiabesco, circondato da una possente cinta muraria e dominato da un antico castello di autentica perfezione architettonica. Montalcino, a ovest di Pienza, è una bellissima città storica immersa nello splendido paesaggio del Parco Naturale della Val'Orcia e rinomata in tutto il mondo per la straordinaria produzione del prezioso Brunello di Montalcino.
Il borgo è rimasto pressoché intatto dal XVI secolo. Una volta raggiunta la cima su cui si erge Montalcino, un vero e proprio spettacolo si apre davanti agli occhi: un continuo susseguirsi di sinuose colline punteggiate qua e là da fiori gialli e rossi, antiche querce, pittoreschi alberi d'olivo, panoramiche strade di campagna che serpeggiano attraverso armoniosi vigneti e cipressi isolati qua e là.
La città di Montalcino è diventata ricca e famosa grazie al Brunello, uno dei migliori vini italiani e tra i più apprezzati al mondo. Il borgo era già rinomato per i suoi vini rossi nel XV secolo. Tuttavia, la preziosa formula del fantastico vin Brunello fu inventata nel 1888 da Ferruccio Biondi Santi, che per primo ebbe l'idea di eliminare i vitigni della tradizionale ricetta del Chianti, come il Canaiolo e il Colorino, usando invece solo la varietà Sangiovese.
Prima che il Brunello sia pronto da bere, deve essere fatto invecchiare per un minimo di 5 anni, 2 dei quali in botti di quercia, mentre il Rosso di Montalcino è pronto dopo un solo anno di invecchiamento. Tra i più rinomati produttori di vino menzioniamo Biondi-Santi, Schidione e Banfi.
Ma Montalcino non è solo vino, è anche arte e cultura. Il centro storico è dominato dalla possente Rocca, fortezza costruita nel 1361 come segnare il passaggio della città sotto il dominio di Siena. Il panorama che si gode dai bastioni della rocca è davvero spettacolare; và dal Monte Amiata, attraverso le Crete fino a Siena, e attraversa tutta la Val d'Orcia fino alle colline della Maremma.
La fortezza è rimasta praticamente intatta sin dal Medioevo e spesso diventa lo scenario ideale per festival, eventi, e concerti, come il famoso Jazz & Wine Festival, che si tiene a Luglio ogni anno, dove si combinano perfettamente il piacere di ascoltare musica jazz sia italiana che internazionale, con quello del buon bere!
Un'altra attrazione di Montalcino è la caratteristica torre stretta e lunga del Palazzo dei Priori, sede del Comune, che si affaccia sulla piazza principale nota come Piazza del Popolo, con la sua bella loggia gotica. Da visitare anche il Palazzo Vescovile e le chiese di Sant' Agostino, Sant' Egidio e San Francesco.
Raccomandiamo di visitare anche il Museo Civico e Diocesano di Arte Sacra, che espone dipinti e sculture a carattere religioso, e il Museo del Vetro, che ripercorre la storia della nascita del vetro. Il museo, sito all'interno del castello di Poggio alle Mura, ospita un' interessante collezione di strumenti per la lavorazione del vetro dagli Egizi fino ai Romani per giungere fino ai grandi maestri veneziani.
Le stradine ed i vicoli di Montalcino sono davvero incantevoli e il borgo è il luogo ideale dove poter passeggiare tra il labirinto di deliziosi negozi di arti e mestieri, caffè, ristoranti e wine bar. Se volete portare a casa una bottiglia del superbo vino, siete nel posto giusto!
Prendevi un po' di tempo per respirare la speciale atmosfera medievale di questo magnifico borgo toscano. Camminate lentamente per le sue strette e caratteristiche viuzze, che offrono una vista straordinaria su tutta la valle sottostante, e poi sedevi e rilassatevi mentre sorseggiate pian piano un bel bicchiere dell'insuperabile vino rosso.
Non dimenticate di visitare l'Abbazia di Sant'Antimo a pochi minuti da Montalcino!
volterra
Volterra is a city with an unmistakably medieval appearance, where it is still possible to enjoy the atmosphere of an ancient village, whose authenticity is protected by the relative isolation that limited the development of the centre in industrial times, safeguarding the city from building speculation.
In Volterra history has left its mark continuously from the Etruscan period until the nineteenth century: the city is rich in artistic evidence of great importance, to be admired walking through the streets of the old town and visiting the city museums, such as the Etruscan one, the Art Gallery, the Museum of Sacred Art, or the Ecomuseum of Alabaster. And the beauties continue even just outside the historical centre, where you can admire the wonderful
For 3000 years in the heart of Tuscany, every historical period has left indelible traces in Volterra! The last ones we find in the Twilight trilogy.
Roman theatre, as well as the ruins of the Etruscan Acropolis. At this point the traveller will only have to admire the surrounding uncontaminated landscape before discovering the secrets of a rare handicraft production: that of alabaster.
The modern Volterra is almost entirely enclosed within the circle of thirteenth-century walls, the end point of a process of urban expansion that began around the year 1000 and was completed about 300 years later with the construction of defensive systems near the city gates. In that period Volterra grew from the castrense form of the late antique period (V century), extending to its current perimeter. The centre developed around the ancient church of Santa Maria (the present cathedral) and the adjacent pratus episcopatus, today Piazza dei Priori, while outside the castrum or castellum, the village of Santa Maria and that of the Abbot were built after the year 1000.
Walking through Volterra never fails to attract curious glances at the Crossroads, that is to say the imposing complexes of towers that constitute the tangible sign of urban development towards east, west and north: they are the crux viarum of the Buomparenti, Sant'Agnolo and the Baldinotti. During the thirteenth century on the pratus episcopatus was not only built, adhering to the apses of the Cathedral, the domus comunis (Palazzo dei Priori, 1208), but at the same time the appearance of the same square was defined and the height of the towers was redesigned according to the different areas of the city. In line with the Palazzo dei Priori, Piazza San Giovanni was erected, according to a typical Tuscan custom, on which all the most important ecclesiastical buildings stand: the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Opera House, the hospital of Santa Maria and the cemetery.
As said, the medieval circuit of the walls enclosed, until a few years ago, almost the entire city: with the four medieval villages connected to the centre by uphill streets. The villages are those of Sant'Alessandro, on the Via delle Saline on the side of the Val di Cecina; San Lazzero, on the way to Florence and Siena; Santo Stefano and San Giusto, the furthest from the city, near the Balze and dominated by the massive church dedicated to the patron saint.
At the end of the nineteenth century and in the first part of the twentieth century in the area of Borgo San Lazzero the large complex of the Psychiatric Hospital was built, transformed today into a modern hospital, where the eclecticism of early twentieth century architecture was mixed with the rationalist style. Also in the area of San Lazzero you can see the old railway station of 1912, which connected the city to Saline thanks to daring scaffolding.
montepulciano
Perched on top of a hill, south of Tuscany and not far from Siena, Montepulciano is a medieval town of rare beauty that certainly deserves a visit! A unique village with elegant Renaissance palaces, ancient churches, beautiful squares and small hidden corners. From Montepulciano, moreover, you can enjoy a fabulous and boundless panorama of the Val d'Orcia and the Val di Chiana.
The strategic position of Montepulciano makes it the ideal place to set off to discover this beautiful corner of Tuscany. The harmonious Pienza, the spa town of Bagno Vignoni, the famous Montalcino and many other enchanting villages are all within easy reach in a short time.
Recently Montepulciano has become a popular tourist destination with a considerable increase in visitors, following the filming of the famous movie New Moon, sequel to the vampire saga Twilight.
Piazza Grande is the heart of Montepulciano and the stage for the city's main events, including Il Bravio delle Botti, held every year in August, and much more. A walk through the streets of Montepulciano is the best way to discover the city and its attractions and at the same time to admire the incredible view of the surrounding countryside all covered by those fabulous vineyards that produce the famous Nobile!
St. Galgano and the sword in the rock
The abbey of San Galgano is a Cistercian abbey, located about thirty kilometers from Siena, in the municipality of Chiusdino.
The site consists of the hermitage (called "Rotonda di Montesiepi") and the large abbey, now completely in ruins and reduced only to the walls, a tourist destination. The lack of the roof - which highlights the articulation of the architectural structure - links the abbey to those of Melrose, Kelso and Jedburg in Scotland, Tintern in Wales, Cashel in Ireland, Eldena in Germany, Beauport in Paimpol (Brittany) and the Convento do Carmo in Lisbon. In Italy, a comparison, at least aesthetically speaking, can be made with the Complex of the Holy Trinity called the Unfinished of Venosa (Potenza), which, however, did not fall into ruin: the building works were never completed. The roof collapsed in 1786 when lightning struck the abbey's bell tower. Three years later it was deconsecrated and from then on it was used as a stable, until 1926 when the Italian state recognised its cultural value and protected it.
Of San Galgano, the owner of the place that is celebrated on December 3, it is known that he died in 1181 and that, converted after a disorderly youth, he retired to a hermit life to give himself to penance, with the same intensity with which he had first given himself to debauchery.
The culminating moment of his conversion took place on Christmas day in 1180[1], when Galgano, having reached the hill of Montesiepi, stuck his sword into the ground in order to transform the weapon into a cross; in fact in the Rotunda there is a boulder from the cracks of which a hilt and a segment of a sword corroded by years and rust, now protected by a case of polymethylmethacrylate.
