ITINERARIES in SIENA
OUR SUGGESTED ITINERARIES AROUND SIENA...
The Augustinian hermitages and the Great Duke's tunnel
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Ten minutes far from Siena, inside the thick Lake's wood, a plunge into the past life in search of two Augustinian hermitages (monasteries): we'll visit Lecceto's hermitage, a place of great quietness and meditation, the hermits' grottoes, San Leonardo's hermitage, with the wonderful frescoes painted by Lippo Vanni, and, great conclusion, we'll walk through the Great Duke's tunnel, an incredibile subway digged more than two centuries ago to reclaim the next marshlands of Pian del Lago.
Everybody in Valdorcia
Bagno Vignoni
There's a village in Tuscany where the main square consists of a large rectangular pool with thermal water coming out from the underground at 42 °C of temperature: leaving from this charming place, whose name is Bagno Vignoni, we'll go to visit the older village of Vignoni Alto, Ripa d'Orcia's castle, bravely overlooking Orcia's gorges, we'll go down to the same river at the point of the ruined medieval bridge and, back to Bagno Vignoni, we can let us take a wonderful hot bath at the Spa swimming-pool.
From Montalcino to Sant'Antimo
From Brunello's homeland a nice crossing leading us to Castelnuovo dell'Abate, pretty village with a view on Mount Amiata, the highest peak of Siennese provincia. After the easy crossing of Lume Spento's pass, we'll go down to the small hamlet named Villa a Tolli, going on to the splendid green hollow where stands out Sant'Antimo's abbey, so precious for travertin and onyx, such an important center of spiritual and temporal power in the Middle Ages.
The little known Chianti
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A delightful and aerial "chiantigiana" crossing from the eighteenth century San Donato in Perano's villa to Meleto's castle. We'll visit Vertine, an almost untouched fortified hamlet, Spaltenna's Romanesque church, simple and beautiful, and other small little known places. At the end, the tour of Meleto's castle, built in the Middle Ages but restored inside in eighteenth century style, and wine-tasting of the DOC and DOCG there produced.
Castelvecchio di San Gimignano
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Do you know San Gimignano's Towers? Yes, of course! Have you ever been in Castelvecchio; an ancient medieval village, object of strife for centuries between San Gimignano and Volterra? I think you haven't! Here's to you the best opportunity to visit this wild and full of history place: a beautiful walking tour in the countryside around S.Gimignano, with the sightseeing of other small villages as San Donato and Montauto.
In the land of the truffle
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For some years San Giovanni d'Asso, remote village in the Siennese countryside, has made the headlines for the richness in with truffle that the able local searchers can find through the claylands surrounding the village. From this spot, in full immersion in the magic world of Siennese Claylands, we'll go to Monteoliveto's abbey, a place of great fascination and beauty. Panoramas crown the tour.
Naturally fine
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Farma's creek: from Petriolo to Iesa we'll go up the most charming watercourse of Siena's provincia, wrapped up in a lush vegetation, and we can take a bath in the fantastic natural pools along the creek. It's the perfect outing for the hot summer days: cool waters and nature everywhere!
Through Castelnuovo Berardenga's way
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From Villa Arceno, a large neoclassical villa with a park and a lake in English style, we'll walk to Montalto's castle and to Abbadia Monastero, with the beautiful belltower; we are by Castelnuovo Berardenga, so named from the noble Frank Berardo, that exercised his power on these lands in the tenth century: in short, the least usual village of the most known Siennese Chianti.
The last hills made of clay ("biancane")
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Two steps away from Siena there's a pretty enchanted world: it consists of the "biancane" (small hills of clay) of Leonina, an ancient fortress on the northern boundaries of the area of Siennese Claylands. It' a lunar landscape by now almost destroyed by the today's agricolture. Now, the remains of this world are strictly protected. Why? Easy to answer: too fine!
Through marble and chestnut trees
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An interesting walk across the woody slopes of Montagnola Senese, in search of anthropic and natural factors that shaped the present look of this fascinating territory. Among marble quarries and chestnut woods, among old shrines and pasturing pigs, the tour will run through the ancient hamlets of Simignano, Molli and Gallena, the last one with two remarkable towers, the remains of an old castle. A really fine environment in spite of the heavy modifications it's suffering.
In Merse's valley
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Stigliano's towers, the secluded village of Brenna, the watermill of the Ricausa, the fortified nucleus named "Castel che Dio sol sa": immersed in a sea of vegetation, we'll go through one of the most woody and untouched zones of Siena's provincia. And, if the weather is good, we'll crown our excursion with a sparkling bath in Merse's river at the point of an ancient ruined dam turned into an unusual hydromassage.
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