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Site & Content
©2002-7 Learn Italy Ltd. |
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cercate il sito Learn Italy della Societa Dante Alighieri
- Comitato di Siena, clickare qui
www.learnitaly.com |
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| Taking an interest
in the country you are visiting is not at odds with rest
and recreation. Ideas and knowledge make lasting souvenirs.
Learn Italy holidays combine information with pleasure,
in a setting of great beauty and interest, the hill-town
of Montalcino in southern Tuscany. You will be encouraged
to understand and enjoy the richness of Tuscan life by
experts on Italian history, society and art. |
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Learn Italy's programmes
take place in Montalcino,
a charming small Tuscan hill-town of steep narrow |
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| streets, car-free
alleyways, small squares, and churches. Montalcino is famous
for the production of Brunello, one of Italy's most prestigious
red wines. There are many botteghe dedicated to selling
Brunello and other local specialities. This is a prosperous
town, alive to its own history and dignity. |
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| A brisk walk from
the city gateway, the Porta Cerbaia, to the other end of the
main street, where municipal buildings look down on the valley
below, takes only ten minutes. |
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| However, the pleasures
of wandering through the streets, or sitting outside a bar in
the Piazza del Popolo enjoying the rhythms of daily life, are
inexhaustible. |
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| There are beautiful
views on almost all sides. To the south, the skyline is dominated
by the fourteenth-century fortress - now a venue for concerts
and festivals of food and wine. This
was the refuge of exiled Sienese in their battle to preserve
independence from Florence. To the west densely wooded hills
stretch out towards Siena. To the north lies Buonconvento, with
its medieval walls. Further away are Pienza, birthplace of the
Renaissance Pope Pius II, and Montepulciano, also famous for
its wine. |
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| The east is dominated
by the huge bulk of Monte Amiata on the southern boundary of
Tuscany. In the valley below runs the Cassia, the old road joining
Rome to the north. In the Middle Ages the same route was well
known to pilgrims travelling to Rome. |
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| On clear days the
distant Apennines of Tuscany and Umbria provide a backdrop to
this spacious and absorbing panorama. Shifting qualities of
light and the changing skyscape make the view different from
hour to hour and from day to day. |
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