San Casciano dei Bagni – Cetona – Abbadia San Salvatore
“Handmade” Monte Amiata and Val di Chiana
Some skilful carver must have engraved and embossed the archaic profile of this territory.
Villages stand out on verdant headlands.
Medieval villages and farmhouses are scattered among the peaceful valleys. The candles of cypress give rhythm to the harmony of the horizon.
San Casciano dei Bagni is associated with the sulphurous water that flows copiously, there are over 40 springs for a flow rate of 5.5 million water per day. Since Etruscan times, it was used for spas, which, from then until today, have always enjoyed an excellent reputation attracting wealthy visitors who, investing in the territory, have given way to the local economy to develop. Even today it is possible to immerse yourself in the sulphurous waters of the tanks of Roman origin that are located in the immediate vicinity of the village, the so-called Free Baths. San Casciano dei Bagni offers visitors many other opportunities to discover the territory and its culture, from typical culinary specialties, pici and ciaffagnone, to the beauties of nature such as gullies, to architectural peculiarities such as border castles, we remember that of Fighine.
Continue on to Cetona, an archaeological site dating back 4000 years ago, that today houses the Civic Museum of Prehistory of Monte Amiata. This is a place full of history and symbols of the past, how winding streets up to the medieval fortress of the old town and the striking archaeological park: an oasis of nature in which human intervention has been severely limited and it’s still possible to visit caves and scenarios of arcane prehistoric events.
Taking advantage of the strategic geographical position and the richness of the territory, the Etruscans made Chiusi their stronghold and one of the most important cities of the empire. Evidence of this are the Etruscan Museum which conteins a substantial number of canopies, anthropomorphic vases made to collect the ashes of the dead, among which we remember that of Dolciano, and the Civic Museum “The underground city”, a section of which, the epigraphic one, winds for 140 meters in underground tunnels that contein 500 inscriptions on cinerary urns and tomb tiles.
Sarteano offers unique natural and architectural wonders. Nature reveals itself and offers us many aspects of a single territory, from the arid but inviting Val d’Orcia to the intense green of Monte Amiata. The Castle with its majestic walls welcomes us revealing an urban agglomeration of ancient origin that conteins noble palaces, we mention Palazzo Todeschini Piccolomini, a theater, the Teatro degli Arrischianti, and countless churches that conteins valuable works of art, we mention the Church of San Martino in Foro where we can admire the painting on wood of the Annunciation by Domenico Beccafumi.
Abbadia San Salvatore surprises the visitor with the thirteenth-century church of Santa Croce, the many medieval buildings, the boundary walls and the beautiful trails that enter in the surrounding woods. One of these leads to the “rock of Dante” that bears this name because its profile would remember that one of the great poet. But the area possesses a resource now become a museum: mineral deposits. The mining museum is the witness of the most authentic life of miners and history of the extraction of mercury.
In such a context, innovative entrepreneurial realities design and manufacture products according to green rules. Workshops of potters shape glazed ceramic cups and containers from earthy colors like the mountain. Workshops of goldsmiths create refined jewelry and vintage trinkets. Ink drawings show us the ancient traditions of the place, offering a very original representation of peasant work.
Every gesture, every geometry and every object is the lure of millenary traditions that come alive on the pages of the most compelling book: the landscape.
Follow this route to rewind time.