MAGIC TOUR IN TUSCANY FROM VAL D'ARBIA TO VAL D'ORCIA
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Thank you for downloading this free eBook. You are welcome to share
it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and
distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form, with the exception of quotes used in reviews. Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated. Copyright © 2013 by Rosario Volpi
***
MAGIC TOUR IN TUSCANY FROM VAL D'ARBIA TO VAL D'ORCIA
The trip that we will do would be in the lands south of the province Siena, a travel along the ancient Via Francigena, and we are going to visit the strip of land from the Val d'Arbia comes to Val d'Orcia, where the art, the landscapes and the flavours of the earth give ineffable sensations, that they leave a mark, so that you will not want to go away, never, or if you are far you'll have the desire to return.
I will be brief and essential, in order not to bore you, to give you just the right ideas, so you can fully enjoy all in a single day.
For about six years I have traveled the roads of the lands of Siena, following the same magic path and every time I've discovered something new.
With this route, I will give you words and then it's up to you to find the images, perceive the smells, taste the flavours.
I will not talk about Siena, because many people have already described the beauty and also because I want to tell something different, even more stunning and beautiful.
Tuscany is one of the Italian regions where the month of July is one of the driest, for this reason, I chose to start in July.
If you are already on a visit to Siena, and you are driving, you can take as a starting point, Roman Gate, and from there I started forth.
You get on the Via Cassia Sud, or rather the ancient Via Francigena, after the traffic lights at Coroncina, about 2 miles, already appear the first wheat fields, and you arrive at the hill of Malamerenda, here you will feel the fragrance of hay. On this short stretch of road narrates an anecdote dating back to 1337 AD which arises from a cruel carnage among thirty-six members of two powerful families of Siena, Tolomei and the Salimbeni, during an unfortunate snack that had the purpose of reconciliation. The luxurious banquet turned into a bloody dispute, hence the memorable name Malamerenda (hideous banquet).
Past the hill in front of you in the background here are the first golden hills, the corn stalks and cut the swivels straw scattered here and there, on the top and down the sides of the road. At about five hundred meters before the crossing at Isola D'Arbia there is a bend, there you will find a lookout, park and get out and get some fresh air, you are at the entrance of the Val d'Arbia.
Now we can leave for the next destination Abbey of Monte Oliveto. We are on the Via Francigena, which connects Rome to Canterberry. After a brief stop in Buonconvento, a small village that dates back to 1100 AD. Continuing on the South Cassia towards Rome, we cross, Isola d'Arbia, Murlo and Monteroni D'Arbia and after about 20 km, between curves and ups and downs arrive at Buonconveto.
As you enter in Buonconvento, left begins the mountain road that leads after about 8 km to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto.
The road is narrow but pleasant when we get to the parking lot, here we leave the car and get ready for a walk in the woods that leads to the Convent. We climb for about a hundred yards and then get to the gates of the complex of the Abbey. You hardly looks like a castle, but on the doors there is a statue of the Virgin. Where there is now a restaurant, before it was the old pharmacy of the monks, which showcases ancient and ceramic jugs are kept in the monastery museum. The monks continue in its labs to produce medicines based on natural herbs collected in the surrounding woods, and sell these products in a shop near the church within the abbey complex.
Going down the wooden bridge and enter the door of entrance, there are two parallel paths paved in a steep descent, which for sure will cost us a little bit when we should follow it uphill. If we get around nine in the morning when there were few people, we hear the voice of the forest, we breath the fresh air, and then so much peace, it puts in a good mood, and fills you with energy.
At the bottom here is the Basilica and annexed the entire monastery complex.
He was the patron saint of Siena, San Bernardino Tolomei, gives life to the congregation and the entire monastery complex in the early fourteenth century, following the Benedictine spirit. Inside the monastery courtyard walls are represented stories related to the life of St. Benedict, performed by Signorelli and Sodoma.
From the Great Cloister leads to an internal staircase that leads to the Library and Museum, which houses manuscripts and paintings of great value.
Inside the library, there is also what remains of the pharmacy of the monks. Outside the church there is a short path that you can walk slowly, step by step, breathing quietly, in search of own spirit, as well as the monks were and are.
Before you get back on the path along the Via Francigena, below the church, accesible from a side street downhill, there is the old wine cellar dating back to the mid-fourteenth century. Here you can taste the wine of the Abbey of Monte Oliveto, produced by the monks, and even the oil. And with these tastings
We begin our journey into the tastes and flavors, sienna, thinking and thinking that after some time re-emerge in the mouth nicely.
Leaving the Abbey, we go back for 8 km until to Buonconvento and we continue our journey on the Via Cassia, among vineyards, fields of sunflowers and wheat, in the direction of Val d'Orcia, before arriving at San Quirico D'Orcia, we must stop at Bagno Vignoni, a beautiful medieval thermal village, it's rich in history and legends, and perhaps it's unique in the world to have as a square, a thermal water pool.
Bagno Vignoni is a spa since Roman times, from the sixteenth pool in the town center, thermal waters flow naturally. Arrived at the village you would want to dive into the steaming water, though it is no longer possible, for reasons of conservation.
About this village are told various stories, it is said that St. Catherine of Siena often she went to meditate, and that Lorenzo de Medici, immersed himself in the water of the pool, as well as many other pilgrims along the Via Fracigena, and they stopped in this charming village.
It is also said that the Bishop of Canterbury in along the Via Francigena to Rome from Canterbury had stopped in this charming medieval village.
The strong smell of sulfur, the old walls, the stones and the surrounding countryside make us relax and feel a sense of lightness unique, stretch your arms, straighten your back and breathe, think that you are alive and that all this fills you with energy.
What a nice feeling here where the past seems to come back with all its sacredness and mystery.
Along the way to the hot side, you get in the park of the Old Mill, where there are the remains of what was once the mill in the area. Here you will see a series of channels of thermal water, boiling water flowing in the direction of the edge of the hill.
If you look out from the hill, at the bottom, you can see small waterfalls and then steaming channels, arriving in a thermal water pool created naturally and where there is the possibility of swimming freely.
The tree-lined valley, the rustle of the wind, the flow of water and then you glimpse from afar the Rocca D'Orcia, give you the desire to sit in meditation and forget everything. It is a beautiful place not to be missed. Often, in search of myself, of new strength to face everyday life, I come here, I sit down to take the edge of the hill and just close my eyes and breath.
From July to August, are held i
n the park of the Mill representations related to the Festival Jazz in the Val d'Orcia. Attending a cultural event in such a place is indescribable. As told to get there, you will see a sign on the Cassia with an indication of Bagni Vignoni, there is an uphill path, and before arriving at the village there are two huge parking lots, and areas equipped them leave the car and walk towards the village.
We leave Bagni Vignoni and continue on the Via Francigena towards Rome.
After a few kilometers, we arrive at San Quirico D'Orcia, another charming village.
The Val d'Orcia is a World Heritage Site as well as quotes a huge marble plaque, placed on one of the city walls.
Before we get de village there is a large free car park and a stone staircase climb up to the city center in Via Dante Alighieri, where it continues the ancient Via Francigena, which bisects the entire village, follow it we come to the Collegiate Church dating from the twelfth century.
At noon, when the sun begins to heat the stones of the houses as everything reverberates in white. We walk up to the garden of Leonini, dating back to 1581, in the style of Italian gardens, walking among the bushes at the center is the statue of Cosimo III de