Historical Notes

In order to understand the charm of the Valdorcia, recognized by UNESCO as a heritage site in 2004, it is useful to understand a little of the history.

Since mediaeval times the Val d’Orcia, and the important Via Francigeni, has assumed a role as a frontier for the transit of pilgrims to Rome. This role led to the establishment of numerous hostelries, hospitals and staging posts that throughout the centuries have provided assistance and hospitality to pilgrims and travellers. Of these the more notable are: The Arcimbaldo Hospital, the Briccole, the hostelry on the Ponte dell’Orcia and the staging posts della Scala, della Poderina ,di Ricorsi and Buontalenti’s Posta di Radicofani. The Via Francigena also conditioned the development along its length of defensive structures like castles and towers in addition to parish buildings and abbeys that continue to provide interesting testimonies from this long period in history.

Architecture and works of art

All of the five districts of the valley, San Quirico d’Orcia, Castiglion d’Orcia, Radicofani, Pienza and Montalcino are distinguished by the high concentration of architecture and works of art prevalent from the medieval period (XI-XIV centuries) and the renaissance (XV-XVI centuries). In addition to the cultural wealth of the major towns in the valley, the territory is also characterized by the presence of numerous small towns and settlements (often fortified) both of a civil and religious nature that together represent a rich network of historical, architectural, artistic and environmental references of great value. Of particular note are the settlements of Monticchiello, Corsignano, Castelluccio, Spedaletto, in the area surrounding Pienza; Rocca d’Orcia, Campiglia d’Orcia, Ripa d’Orcia and Vivo in the territory of Castiglion d’Orcia; Vignoni and Bagno Vignoni in the region of San Quirico d’Orcia.

Of the monastic settlements the most notable are San Piero in Campo and Sant’Anna in Camprena, with its rich collection of paintings and the extraordinary Sant’Antimo Abbey that is situated near Montalcino.

An important role in the process of territorial transformation was played by the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala di Siena that, due to the legacies and donations that it received, was able to acquire vast tracts of land along the Francigena and consequently founded the Grancia di Spedaletto, a fortified farm that was organised through a system of share-cropping on the numerous annexed farms. This served as a model of organization for the rich bourgeoisie that had invested capital for the acquisition of land in the Val d’Orcia.

The territory and the settlements

The particular relief of the land is characterized by the rolling hills and gentle slopes that have evolved over centuries of activity in the cultivation of cereals and cattle pastures.

The agriculture of the region was based extensively on a system of share-cropping that also conditioned the development of a particular kind of settlement spread across a large area: the poderi, connected by small lanes. Such settlements illustrate the development of a rural architecture of great significance and value. The rural houses were modelled on the great examples of suburban villas and reflected the works of the great architects such as Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1536) form Siena or Florentines such as Bernardo Buontalenti (1536-1608). Constructed in brick, they often had large external loggia and characteristic towers for the breeding of doves. They often included a number of outbuildings such as barns, tool sheds, henhouses and pigsties that were located around a closed courtyard that served also as a defensive feature against potential attackers.

The importance of these settlements is represented by the fact that they have conserved a physical testimony of their origins and the delicate and exquisite integration between architecture and the natural landscape in the area of the Val d’Orcia that makes the area one of the most suggestive in all of Tuscany.

The Val d’Orcia fulfils the ideal of the renaissance that the dimensions of human settlement should be balanced with the natural surroundings as exemplified significantly by the city of Piazza, created by Poi II in the mid 1400s.