The area around Monticchiello is known from countless postcards and films. The valley in which the house is located is called Val d’Orcia. It is famous for the “white roads” wreathed with cypresses, today favorite routes for hikers. Here you can still meet shepherds with straw hats and their flocks of sheep and goats. In many places there are door sales of goat’s cheese, vegetables and freshly laid eggs. What you can’t find there, you can buy at one of the many small markets. Close by, there are a host of excellent smaller wineries, and a little on the horizon you see Montalcino, where the Brunello comes from. Once you’ve tasted the olive oil from the area, you won’t want to use anything else. The nearest slightly larger city is Pienza, which, like the valley, is UNESCO World Heritage. Pienza is preserved as one of the most beautiful jewels produced by the Renaissance. Siena with its wonderful square, town hall and cathedral deserves many visits. And then there are Montepulciano, Cortona, Orvieto, Assisi with Giotto di Bondone’s frescoes in the upper church of the Basilica di San Francesco. Or Arezzo with an exciting antique market on the first weekend of every month. Florence’s art treasures can be reached in 1½ hours. It takes two hours to get to Romer.
Close to Monticchiello you can enjoy the thermal baths. For example at Bagno Vignoni or Theia. In the summer, beautiful beaches are not far away, for example at Alberese, where you look out over the silvery sea towards Monte Argentario and the islands of Giglio, Monte Christo and Elba. In winter, you can ski on top of Monte Amiata, which can be seen covered in snow from the house’s bedroom. If you like classical music, there is a lively environment and fine festivals. Visit La Foce, which every year attracts world famous artists who, like the audience, are inspired and captivated by the beauty of the landscape and the elegance of the place. Monticchiello has been given new life since the 1960s. For the past 50 years, a theater project has created a tradition where all generations come together every year to put on new performances. The performances in the summer are staged under the stars on the city’s square and, together with the city’s good restaurants, they attract many guests from near and far. Il Teatro Povero has received mention as far afield as in the New York Times and in an American documentary.
Video: https://www.spettacolofilm.com/
Article: New York Times
