Places to visit
Places to visit near: Tuscan Bliss, Casa Cignano. For places near Le Sorbelle: Please see below
Anghiari is a lovely medieval (Voted one of the most beautiful villages in Italy) town lying between two rivers, the Tiber and the Arno. The powerful thirteenth century walls made the town an invincible fortress which constituted an important reference point and kept the Tuscan flag flying during the many historical events that occurred in this delicately balanced border area. On the 29th June 1440 the famous Battle of Anghiari, which was subsequently painted by Leonardo da Vinci in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, reaffirmed Florentine rule in Tuscany.
Anghiari and its surrounding area has seen the lives and work of the greatest men of the Renaissance who brought the seeds of the modern age from the land intra Tevere et Arno to the whole of Europe.
For more information please visit the Anghiari website
According to the tradition, the village of Sansepolcro was founded during the end of the X-th century around an oratory founded by two pilgrims who were returned from the Palestine. They placed there some relics coming from the Christ’s Sepulchre. From then the village took its actual name. During the two following centuries Sansepolcro was first under the jurisdiction of the Benedictine monks, who founded an abbey in 1012, and then it passed to the Camaldolesi’s family. In the first years of the XIII-th century Sansepolcro became property of the city of Arezzo that granted to the town a certain autonomy. In 1318 the village was under the Tarlati’s Lordship until 1335, when Sansepolcro was conquered by the city of Perugia and thus annexed to the Perugia’s domains.
For more information please visit the Sansepolcro website
The name of this old village honours the artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, its greatest citizen. Amid chestnut groves the village preserves its perimetral plan. The Casa del Podest where the artist was born, houses now the Museo Michelangiolesco which displays life-size copies of Michelangelos masterpieces and interesting works by the best contemporary sculptors.
653 metres above sea level, surrounded by an area of outstanditig natural beauty, typical of the high Tiber, valley. The meadowlands and sweet-chestnut woods are ideal for walking, riding or just relaxing. Caprese, however, is not just an attractive place: it is here that nature and history fuse into an integral part of great art.
For more information please visit the Caprese Michelangelo website
Arezzo is a provincial capital within the central Italian region of Tuscany (Toscana). Like so many Italian towns, the historic part of the city is on a hill, in a defensive position close to the base of a stronghold. The lower part of town, around the railway station, is more modern, with a well-ordered and prosperous buzz. With plenty to keep the visitor occupied.
Arezzo's most powerful period came in the Middle Ages, before the town was taken over by Florence. Consequently the historic part of town is predominantly medieval, giving Arezzo a humbler and quainter air than Renaissance Florence.
For more information please visit the Arezzo website
Places to visit near Le Sorbelle:
Pienza owes its beauty and fame to Enea Silvio Piccolomini born in Corsignano on 18 October 1405 and elevated to Pope in 1458 taking the name Pius II. During the course of his Papacy, he changed the ancient Castello di Corsignano (first mentioned in 828) into a Papal residence in the Renaissance style, planned and constructed under the supervision of Bernardo Gambarelli called il Rossellino, a student of Leon Battista Alberti, and renamed it Pienza ("Pius").
Pienza is a rare example of Renaissance town design. Often described as the "ideal city" or the "utopian city", it represents one of the best planned of Renaissance towns, where a model of ideal living and government was attempted, based on the concept of a town able to satisfy the needs of a peaceful and hardworking populace.
For more information please visit the Pienza website
Surrounded by olive groves and the vineyards of Chianti, Siena is one of the most beautiful cities of Tuscany. Set on three hills, the city is drawn together by winding alleyways and steep steps, whilst the Piazza del Campo stands at its heart, and the Duomo and St Maria della Scala serve as additional cultural landmarks.
Famed for the "Palio", the annual historic horse-races that take place on 2 July and 16 August, it is also home to one of the oldest Universities in Europe, which ensures a vibrant Italian student atmosphere throughout the academic year. In addition to the bustling daily life of the streets and squares of the city, Siena offers many cultural events, concerts, cinema, theatre and a wide range of sporting activities.
For more information please visit the Siena website
San Quirico is a charming, walled town on the northern edge of the Val d'Orcia of southern Tuscany in this agricultural hinterland of Sienna. The distinctive landscape of the Val d'Orcia, flat chalk plains interspersed by almost conical hills topped by fortified settlements, inspired many Siennese artists, and their paintings have come to exemplify the beauty of well-managed Renaissance agricultural landscapes, where the inhabitants are depicted as living in harmony with Nature.
Today, the Val D'Orcia is a destination in itself, and its expansive, sweeping landscape is tremendously attractive leaving the Val d'Orcia to walkers, cyclists and those who motor rather than drive.
For more information please visit the San Querico d'Orcia website
