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VAL D'ORCIA.Tuscany.
The very name has a magical quality, summoning timeless images of avenues of cypress trees winding up low
hills to oxblood farmhouses, ordered landscapes of vines and olive groves and the richness
of artistic treasures contrasting with the enduring simplicity of rural ways. Million of visitors have over the years
made their way to the famous cities of Florence, the
storehouse of the Renaissance, Siena, with its atmospheric medieval streets, and Pisa with
its leaning tower. Chianti, too, is well-known, a patchwork of woods and
vineyards running along the hills to the west of the Arno river. But there is another Tuscany, still
within close reach of the Renaissance glories but altogether less frequented, where the
region’s authentic life is still to be found. South
of the Siena, in the city’s former lands to the south east and west, are two areas
which offer a new and exciting insight into Tuscan life: the Val d’Orcia and the
Maremma. This is the hidden Tuscany now
waiting to be discovered. The Val d’Orcia, bordering Umbria,
is the classic Tuscan landscape, a land of low chalk hills dotted with farmhouses. The northern end of the valley is dominated by three fascinating towns: Montalcino and Montepulciano, famous for their wines, and the little Renaissance masterpiece of Pienza, the ‘ideal city’ built and named for Pope Pius II. Within easy striking distance of our properties are the exquisite abbeys of Sant’ Ántimo, Monte Oliveto Maggiore and San Salvatore, and there are spectacular mountain drives across Monte Amiata. The Val d’Orcia is full of picturesque towns and villages like Radicófani, with its chess-piece tower, Bango Vignoni which boasts a unique aquatic piazza, and the discreetly fashionable Cetona. The Val d’Orcia is within an hour’s drive of Siena. |
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Travel à la carte |
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