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Val d’Orcia
Val d’Orcia is a sweeping valley, crossed by the river of the same name, situated mainly in the southern part of the province of Siena, surrounded by the skyline of Monte Amiata which offers a unique landscape and cultural environment, with magnificent views as far as the eyes can see which have influenced the Renaissance school of painting. It has been an important natural, artistic and cultural park since 2004, acknowledged as part of the UNESCO world heritage for having preserved its unique characteristics in a natural environment enhanced by man’s work.
It is characterized by grand panoramas and dotted with various settlements of Medieval origins.
Geography and history
From a naturalistic point of view, in 1999 an area covering 18,500 hectares was declared as Protected Natural Area of Local Interest including the important site of the “volcanic cone” of Monte Amiata.
The landscape, including a continuation of the “Crete Senesi” (Sienese clay hills), winds in a succession of rolling hills with the typical cypress trees, along the Medieval route of the Cassia, which in many parts overlaps with the Francigena, the vital pilgrim route from Rome to France. In the Medieval times, Val d’Orcia was under the rule of the Republic of Siena and many bridges and fortified settlements were built, but after having entered the Florentine sphere of influence it kept its value as an agricultural area, divided into boundless farms.
The most important towns are:
Pienza, a town built according to the will of Pope Pius II Piccolomini and upon a project by the architect Rossellino, which offers a rare example of organised planning, preserving a Renaissance style. In the centre of the square, Piazza Pio II there is the cathedral and Palazzo Piccolomini and from its roof garden the whole valley can be seen. Worth visiting in the whereabouts is the monastery of Sant’Anna in Camprena and the precious settlement of Monticchiello with its winding roads dotted with cypress trees which surround it.
Montalcino, established in the Medieval times and soon under the rule of the Sienese Republic, became its last bulwark, welcoming the asylum seekers until 1559. What remains of the Sienese dominion is the large Rocca and typical Medieval constructions with ancient churches and buildings. Nearby is the splendid Abbazia di Sant’Antimo, amongst the utmost Romanesque testimonies in Tuscany.
Castigliond’Orcia, an ancient castle in a very beautiful position on top of a hill, where “il Vecchietta” was born, a 15th century painter and sculptor. Only a brief distance away is the area of Rocca d’Orcia, gathered under the remains of the 14th century “Rocca di Tentennano”, higher up (870m) is Vivo d’Orcia, a Medieval hamlet amongst dense chestnut woods and Campiglia d’Orcia, an ancient settlement with tiny, picturesque Medieval streets.
S. Quirico d’Orcia, which rises on the hills that separate the valleys of Orcia and Asso, developed under the Sienese dominion. It has a splendid parish church and Palazzo Chigi, the family to whom it was given as a feud during the Medicean era. Only a short distance away are the thermal baths of Bagno Vignoni and Bagni di S. Filippo. Radicofani rises on a hill, 783m high from where a splendid landscape towards Amiata can be enjoyed. Remembered as the dominion of Ghino di Tacco, it went to the Sienese who built the Rocca there.
Food and wine
The typical products of the Val d’Orcia are the pecorino cheese, the Brunello di Montalcino which is one of the most important red Italian wines and a rich extra-virgin olive oil. The cuisine is similar to the Tuscan regional one with some important details: “pansanto” (toasted bread with boiled cauliflower, vinegar and oil), “al fiasco” beans, pici, a kind of hand-made spaghetti with meat sauce and the pappardelle with hare sauce.
