surrounding – Agriturismo Castello di Spedaletto https://www.villaapparita.it Wedding in Val d'Orcia Tue, 25 Jan 2022 17:37:36 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.villaapparita.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-favicon-apparita-32x32.png surrounding – Agriturismo Castello di Spedaletto https://www.villaapparita.it 32 32 Monticchiello https://www.villaapparita.it/en/monticchiello-2/ Wed, 12 May 2021 16:53:09 +0000 https://www.villaapparita.it/?p=2501

Monticchiello is a district of the Italian municipality of Pienza, in the province of Siena, in Tuscany. It is a typical medieval borgo, located in the middle of the Siena countryside. Monticchiello is located at an altitude of 500m above sea level and counted around 202 inhabitants in 2011.
Monticchiello is also known for its “popular theatre” or “Teatro povero”. It has been organized every year for more than 50 years in the open air in summer and the citizens of the village are the actors.
On the outer wall of the building in the Borgo, in via San Luigi n. 13, a human head in stone has been chiseled with the following inscription: “O becero fai la spia si”.
(free translation: Oh boorish, spy you).
The citizens say that in the late 1800’s the owner of the house accused the owner of the opposite house of spying on him for the authorities and having gotten him into trouble. For this reason, he had his face chiseled into the wall so that he could look at him every day in mockery.

]]> Pienza https://www.villaapparita.it/en/pienza-2/ Wed, 12 May 2021 16:52:26 +0000 https://www.villaapparita.it/?p=2497 Originally called “Castello di Corsignano”, Pienza has received its present name in honor of Pope Pio II Piccolomini, who in the second half of the 14th century began the restoration of the city with the aim of concretizing the utopian image of an ideal city.
The whole Borgo is a little jewel to be seen, but especially the Cathedral, which houses the works of art of Giovanni di Paolo, Matteo di Giovanni del Vecchietta and Sano di Pietro. There is also a marble altar attributed to Rossellino, the architect who was given the task by Pope Pio II to remodel the city.
Next to the Cathedral is the Diocesan Museum, where you can see other works of art from the Sodoma School and that of Sano di Pietro, as well as Flemish tapestries from the 14th and 15th centuries.
A few meters away is Palazzo Piccolimini, built according to the design of Bronzino and del Beccafumi.

Below the village runs the enchanting landscape of the “Natural and Cultural Park of Val d’Orcia” with its gorges, undulating fields and its famous chalk cliffs.

]]> Bagno Vignoni https://www.villaapparita.it/en/bagno-vignoni-2/ Wed, 12 May 2021 16:51:40 +0000 https://www.villaapparita.it/?p=2493 Bagno Vignoni is a district of the Italian municipality of San Quirico d’Orcia, in the province of Siena, in Tuscany.
The village is located in the middle of the Orcia Valley, close to the Via Francigena. The water that flows in this habitation has been used for thermal purposes since Roman times. In the center of the Borgo there is the “Piazza delle Sorgenti” (Square of the Springs), a 16th century rectangular basin containing a spring of hot and fuming thermal water, coming from an aquifer of volcanic origin. Since Etruscan times and since Roman times, as evidenced by numerous archaeological finds, the thermal baths of Bagno Vignoni have been visited by various personalities, such as Pope Pio II, Caterina of Siena, Lorenzo de’ Medici and numerous artists who chose the village as a vacation resort.
The waters that spring from the thermal basin lead to the steep slope of the natural park of the mills, where there were four medieval mills built in the rocks and which were very important for the local economy at that time, because the thermal spring was constantly active, even in summer, while other mills in the area were at a standstill during the season because of dried up rivers.

]]> San Quirico d’Orcia https://www.villaapparita.it/en/san-quirico-dorcia/ Wed, 12 May 2021 16:50:40 +0000 https://www.villaapparita.it/?p=2489 Of Etruscan origin, it got its importance thanks to the closeness to the Via Francigena. Frederick I, also known as Barbarossa, received there the ambassadors of Pope Adriano IV in 1154. This event is commemorated with the “Barbarossa Festival”, which always takes place on the third Sunday of June. In 1167 it became the seat of the Imperial Vicariate. Florence, under Cosimo I de’ Medici, acquired it in 1559.
The church “Collegiata die Santi Quirico e Giuditta” was built in Romanesque style: it has three portals and the one placed in the center is accredited to Giovanni Pisano. Inside there is a work by Sano di Pietro and a choir from 1432-1502, while Palazzo Chigi dates back to the 17th century. The “Horti Leonini” (16th century) is one of the first examples of an Italian garden: from August to October, it hosts the sculpture exhibition “Forms of Green”.
The Romanesque Pieve of S. Maria Assunta was built on the ruins of a pre-Christian temple. Inside the church of S. Francesco there are two polychrome wooden statues and a Madonna Robbiana. The district of Bagno Vignoni has been known since Roman times for its beneficial waters, which exceed the temperature of 50°C (122°F) and are recovered in the thermal bath, in the center of the village, giving the place a fascinating atmosphere. A small sanctuary has also been dedicated to Santa Caterina of Siena, under the portico on the side of the tub.
The Castle of Vignoni is located above the residence and can be reached on foot from both San Quirico and Bagno Vignoni along a natural path.

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