Borghi di Toscana
Montecchio Vesponi is located about 4 km south of Castiglion Fiorentino on the road (n ° 71) which goes towards Cortona. The castle, very beautiful and evocative, is placed on a hill, at a height of 364 meters above sea level, which dominates the whole plain below. Passing along the road you cannot do without […]
Castiglion Fiorentino is an important town in the Val di Chiana situated on a hill 345 meters high, between Arezzo and Cortona. The village has remote Etruscan origins, it is shown by the remains of Etruscan walls found at the Cassero. During the late archaic and the Hellenistic periods in the area of Castiglion Fiorentino stood […]
From a distance the structure that characterizes the village of Poppi is undoubtedly the Castle of the Counts Guidi (or Praetorian Palace), which, with its massive structure dominates the town on the hilltop, but the town is very beautiful even for its porches. Poppi’s history dates back to the twelfth century when it became the […]
Castel Focognano is a town in the Casentino situated 28 km from Arezzo, and about 12 km from Bibbiena, the main center and seat of the municipality is the village of Rassina, located in the plains along the valley of the Arno river. The town has kept the name of the old location, Castel Focognano, […]
Casentino is a valley crossed by the River Arno, here is the source of the most important river of Tuscany, set among the hills of Pratomagno and the Tosco-Romagnolo Apennine. The territory covers approximately 800 square kilometers in the northern part of the province of Arezzo. It is bordered to the north by the Emilia-Romagna and to […]
Bibbiena is an important center of the Casentino in the province of Arezzo, is located on a hill 425 meters above sea level at the confluence of the Archiano stream in the Arno river. The area where today stands Bibbiena was populated since Etruscan times, but the foundation of the present town dates back to […]
The frescoes of the Legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca Basilica of San Francesco faces on the square of the same name that is located halfway between the cathedral square and the walls, in the center of the square is the monument to Vittorio Fossombroni. The Basilica of San Francesco is characterized […]
Piazza Grande, the most beautiful public square in Arezzo, is opened in the heart of the medieval city, the square is a mix of buildings of several ages that gives an evocative and scenographic aspect. It has a characteristic trapezial shape, with a strongly tilted surface, the square was the ancient Platea Communis, risen around […]
The city of Arezzo, located at the confluence of four river valleys, was an important Etruscan and Roman town. The Archaeological Museum, located in a former Olivetan monastery, built on part of the Roman Amphitheatre houses many relics of that period. Guido Tarlati, bishop of Arezzo, in the first half of XIV century, transformed the city […]
Abbadia a Isola is a small interesting medieval village, it’s lies just 4 km from Monteriggioni along the road to Colle Val d’Elsa. The small village, built around the Cistercian Abbey of San Salvatore, which was founded here in the tenth century, was in medieval times, a stopping place for pilgrims along the Via Francigena. Here was […]
Monteriggioni is a picturesque medieval village completely encircled from circular walls with 14 towers, situated on a low hill, approximately 10 km from Siena. Until 11th century, Monteriggioni was a station of exchange along the via Francigena. Siena transformed Monteriggioni in an imposing fortress in order protect its northern border during the wars against Florence. A […]
Cortona (23 000 inhabitants) is a beautiful town in the province of Arezzo, which is located on the slopes of a hill about 500 meters high, is now a major tourist city with many tourist attractions primarily Etruscan, Roman, Medieval and Renaissance. The town of Cortona traces its historical roots in the Etruscan period, probably […]
Civitella in Val di Chiana is a picturesque village perched on a hill 523 meters above sea level. Civitella in historical times was important due to its strategic location in relation to the paths towards Siena and Florence, and his role as garrison in the proximity of the city of Arezzo. The definitive aspect of Civitella […]
Buonconvento is a village of just over 3,000 inhabitants located in the province of Siena at 147 meters above sea level at the confluence of the river Arbia in to river Ombrone. Buonconvento is about 30 km from Siena and is still surrounded by medieval walls, built between 1371 and 1385. The medieval village enclosed by walls […]
In the area around the medieval village of Castellina in Chianti numerous testimonies of the Etruscan era have been found, including some Etruscan tombs. Among the Etruscan tombs found in Castellina in Chianti the most interesting is the Etruscan tumulus of Montecalvario. While the Etruscan necropolis of Poggino is another area where the remains of […]
Situated on a hill, 578 meters above sea level, overlooking the river valleys of the Pesa, Arbia and Elsa, Castellina in Chianti is one of the most important villages of Chianti and a famous resort area. Castellina in Chianti, is an interesting medieval town of Etruscan origins, of this period are witness the many Etruscan […]
Lucignano (3,500 inhabitants), is a small medieval village of the Val di Chiana, located about 400 meters above sea level, in the province of Arezzo, from which is 33 km away. The origin of Lucignano probably dates from the period of the Roman Empire, when the top of the hill where today the country there […]
Sansepolcro rises in the Upper Tiber Valley, in the eastern end of Tuscany, about forty kilometers from the city of Arezzo. Charming Renaissance town, Sansepolcro owes much of its fame to Piero della Francesca, a famous artist who was born here in the early fifteenth century. The center still retains its character as a city […]
Pienza is a wonderful village that lies on a hill dominates the Val d’ Orcia at about 490 amsl. The small city is approximately 50 km from Siena and is reachable travel along the Cassia until San Quirico d’ Orcia and then following the indications for Pienza. Another road that can be used is the […]
The Crete Senesi lies southeast of Siena, they extends from the immediate environs of the city along the valleys of the rivers Arbia, Ombrone and Asso, in the municipalities of Asciano, Buonconvento, Monteroni d’Arbia, Rapolano Terme and San Giovanni d’Asso. Crete senesi literally “Siennese clays”, are formed by clay soil, formed during the Pliocene (between […]
A few km from the Autosole A1 Valdarno exit, between Florence and Arezzo it is possible to admire an interesting erosive phenomenon known by the name of Balze. The Balze are one of the most beautiful and fascinating landscape aspects of the Valdarno. These strange natural formations can be seen in the municipalities of Terranova […]
The island of Capraia is located about 64 km from Livorno, 42 km from the island of Elba, 37 km from the island of Gorgona and 31 km from Corsica. The island has 355 inhabitants (2007) and an area of 19.30 km ² its coastline is an extension of 27 km. Capraia is an island […]
Gorgona island is the northernmost of the islands of the Tuscany archipelago (43°25’37” lat. North) and also the smallest (2,25 km²), it rises 255 metres above the sea and is mostly mountainous and, for a large area, covered in Mediterranean maquis vegetation, it’s still place for a penal colony. Gorgona it’s about 37 km from […]
The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine was begun in 1268, and unfortunately damaged by fire in 1771. The interior has a nave, and was re-decorated in the eighteenth century after the fire. Fortunately the fire spared the absolute masterpiece of the church which requires anyone visiting Florence a visit to this church: the beautiful […]
The great square on which overlooks the Basilica of Santa Croce is surrounded by some buildings of historical interest such as the Palace dell’Antella (seventeenth century) – with beautiful frescoes by Giovanni da San Giovanni and Filippo Napoletano – and the Palazzo Cocchi Serristori (XVI century) by Baccio d’Agnolo. Basilica of Santa Croce is the […]