VAL D’ORCIA AND THE CRETE SENESI
Perhaps no other part of Tuscany belongs more to the collective imagination than the natural beauty of this area, enhanced by the care and intervention of skilled hands and the wise mindset of its inhabitants. This corner of the world, between Mount Amiata and the city of Siena, is sprinkled with architectural jewels, from the abbeys (Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Sant'Antimo) to the urban centers, harmonious and perfect in their reduced dimensions. Consider also le Grancie, Medieval fortified farmlands which served once Siena as granaries, indispensable back then for supplying the basics of nourishment to the city's population. In the zone known as Crete Senesi, calanques and the white clay cliffs ("biancanes" in Italian), conceal the secrets of white truffles and Orcia wine; whereas on the hills of Montalcino, the Sangiovese Grosso grape yields the most renowned of all Italian wines, Brunello. Pienza, a splendid Renaissance island in a sea of hills, is home of the most popular Pecorino cheese in all of Italy.

The landscape of Orcia, the rows of cypress trees leading up to villas and noble family estates, have become an image forever tied to memory. Visitors can enjoy the hot springs of Bagno Vignoni, Rapolano Terme or Bagni San Filippo. Many directors have used these places as the locations for their films, Nostalgia and The English Patient, to name but two. A few written lines cannot convey the rush of feelings that visitors will experience when they visit. With our help they will come to know the history and legends of this area, the particular details of who and what has transformed this valley and these hills into the legacy it has become – for all mankind.

PIENZA
Born in Val d'Orcia in the year 1405 in a village then known as Corsignano, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, after becoming Pope Pius II (Papa Pio II), transformed his Val d'Orcia castle into the city of Pienza. It was a place that reflected the spirit and mind of the humanist that he had become. He managed to created it, thanks to great intellectual prowess, both political and diplomatic, from nothing – out of grain fields and grazing pastures, amid clay ravines. From his dream, a unique situation in Tuscany came into being, that of a Renaissance city, comprised of elegant palaces rather than Medieval towers, and it was a reflection of the genius of the great Florentine intellectuals Leon Batista Alberti and Bernardo Rossollino. Pius wanted a palace (Palazzo) which would mirror the new age. He wanted its perfect form to be an echo of the perfection of the Universe, created by God; he wanted a Cathedral similar to the German churches he had seen in youth during, during the time he had spent at the side of the Hapsburg Emperor Frederich III.

So, with cunning and skill, Pius summoned the Cardinals of Rome and invited them to build grand residences in the city which now bore his name. Lulli, Borgia, Ammannati and Gonzaga built splendid palaces in pleasant surroundings, but few of them ever actually returned to stay, but for rare occasions. The laborers who worked on the construction of the new city were provided with new homes, an early instance of public housing and indicative of Pius' far-sightedness. His life was a perfect example of humanism, which placed man in the center of everything. In just a few years, from Pius's election as Pope in 1458 to his death in Ancona in 1464, Pienza amassed a wealth of artworks, Sienese paintings of the early Renaissance, highly detailed manuscripts, and works originating in distant lands, such as the magnificent cope in opus anglicorum which came from England. Additional important artifacts are to be found in the Church of San Francesco. Built in the 1300s, one can still find large fragments of frescoes dating back to the period. The sunlight flooding the streets amid a backdrop of blue sky, with Mount Amiata, Radicofani, and Mount Cetona in the distance, never fail to bewitch visitors, and instantly they can comprehend the reason why centuries ago so many people flocked to Val d'Orcia in order to share in the dream of the great humanist who later became pope. The scents of Pienza are strong, and the dominant one is that of Percorino, a cheese produced from the milk of the local sheep. In spring, the meadows are in bloom, and it is their flowers that give the Pienza's Percorino cheese its particular aroma, which often wafts through the narrow streets of this ideal city, streets which evoke the past, that of fortune and romance. Each year in the beginning of September, a festival is held promoting the local cacio cheese, which involves a game known as "druzzola", named after the pieces of aged Percorino which serve as playing pieces for the game.

MONTALCINO
Throughout the world, the name Montalcino is synonymous with prestigious wine. In the past few decades, Brunello has become the king of Tuscan red wine, and perhaps the king tout court. The natural beauty of the hills, of the countryside and of the numerous holm oak trees blends in gracefully with the man-made additions. Montalcino's symbol is, in fact, the holm oak. This arable land has been worked by man for centuries, including the steepest slopes, which have been terraced at intervals and planted with well ordered rows of Sangiovese Grosso grapes, alternating with thousands of olive trees, many of which are now centuries old. It is a stupendous place to visit, perched on a "saddle" that dominate the Val d'Arbia all the way to Siena. An intricate web of streets follows the slope of the hill. In the 1200s, Montalcino was a city proud of it autonomy and withstood Sienese pressure, up to the battle of Monaperti, that is. Subsequent to that defeat, which placed Montalcino squarely under the dominance of the Republic of Siena, the pentagonal Rocca was erected, which has always been a prominent silhouette on the landscape.

It is here that the Dance of the Trascone takes place each year during the ornithological Festival of the Thrush (last week of October), a grand celebration of hunting, in the past a principal means of sustenance for Montalcino.
The city centers around Piazza del Popolo, commonly referred to by the locals as "the frying pan". The Medieval Village Hall is located on this square, as are the arcades which comprise the central marketplace. A beautiful view of the surrounding countryside can be enjoyed from the vantage point of the Church of Our Lady of Good Help. Flags representing the four districts of the city - Borghetto, Travaglio, Ruga and Pianello - are displayed inside the church. The districts sponsor many social and recreational activities, culminating in a major bow-and-arrow competition held twice annually. The Cathedral of San Salvatore is located on the highest point. The facade and interior are neoclassic in style. In contrast, a nearby well has been transformed into a contemporary art installation by the Greek artist Ioannis Kunellis.
The magic of Montalcino is found, above all, in the surrounding countryside. Inside cellars which were carved centuries ago into the hillsides, a nectar is made and there it remains, scrupulously under lock and key, for five years. When it does finally see the light of day, most of it has already been sold to the four corners of the world.

SANT’ANTIMO
This Romanesque abbey has almost a millennium of history. Founded in the 11th century, it is of singular beauty and fascination. The opalescent quality of the alabastrine stone stands out in stark contrast to the deep green of the surrounding forests. The abbey appears isolated and immobile. Its style is so perfect and so ancient that you forget there are cars parked nearby. The monastery has almost completely disappeared, but the church is perfectly preserved. Its colonaded façade is complex. The interior is divided into three naves. There is also a deambulatory and women's gallery, which brings to mind the Trans-Alpine influence of the Franciscan monk-architects. At all hours of the day, monks intone the Liturgy of the Hours, Gregorian chants. The practice, reintroduced by the monks only some years ago, now attracts visitors from around the world. The abbey is a short distance to the nearby Medieval village of Castelnuovo dell’Abate, with its narrow streets, and just outside the village are the abandoned caves of alabastrine stone.     

SAN QUIRICO D’ORCIA AND BAGNO VIGNONI
San Quirico d'Orcia lies along the former Via Francigena, today known as Via Cassia, in what was the last outpost of 12th century emperor Frederico Barbarossa. The center of town extends along the road, the road itself being the force that brought the town into existence and provided for its subsequent development. Still enclosed within the walls of the town is the stupendous collegiata, made of travertine stone and dating back to the 12th century. Two great doors in two different styles introduce us to a incredible wealth of artistry. Wayfarers and religious pilgrims followed Via Francigena to the tomb of a German prince, which helps us to understand that this was a destination of both “the great and the small” of history, and both left their traces. The feudal vassals, the Chigi and then the Chigi-Zondadari, built their palaces near the ancient collegiata, as if it were a Roman palace of the 1600s. Also of note is the Italian garden, the Horti Leonini.

Just a short distance away are the thermal baths of Bagno Vignoni, all squeezed around the pool of thermal water which constitutes the main piazza of the area. Saint Catherine of Siena and Lorenzo the Magnificent used these ancient thermal baths, famous for their curative properties and situated less than 2 km. from Via Francigena. Many religious pilgrims and wayfarers from the Middle-Ages enjoyed the benefits of these waters. Even today, you can see mills make use of the thermal waters and the steep hill slopes that form the narrow gorge of the Orcia River. From both the ancient and the modern thermal pools, you can see the valley's most impressive fortification, the Rocca d'Orica. Situated atop a rocky peak, it seems itself a part of the spiky landscape. In the 13th century, the bandit Ghino di Tacco used this strategic lookout post to control the approaches from the road.

MONTE OLIVETO MAGGIORE
This abbey is the gemstone of a particular terrain. Its inspiring natural beauty is very different from that of the surrounding green valleys, harsh yet lovely at the same time. Its clay formations mitigate the form of the soft hills, and the works of man have transformed once-sterile fields into expanses of green seedlings in spring and into oceans of golden-yellow grain in summer.
Monte Oliveto is located in a point where all the characteristics of the area blend together, steep white cliffs (“biancanes” in Italian) and tall cypress trees, a green oasis in the middle of gray clay, a touch of red – a mass of bricks that form the splendid Renaissance monastery complex, rich like no other artistic treasure: home to the famous fresco of the Signorelli and Sodomia, painted at the beginning of the 16th century; the wooden marquetry of monks who were specialists of this fine art since the 1400s; the apothecary and the library, both examples of the level of knowledge of the Benedictine monks – all this in a place where the famous rule of thumb ora e lavora is still valid.     
The nearby villages and centers, which possess knowledge and flavors of antiquity, continue to fascinate everyone who visits: Petrolio with its terracotta, San Giovanni d'Asso with its truffles, Trequanda with its extra virgin olive oil, Chiusure with its artichokes, Asciano with its museums dedicated to sacred art and archaeology and its Cassioli Museum, dedicated to 19th century Sienese painting.

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