Probably the most famous and renowned center of Val d'Orcia. The city until 1462 was nothing more than a small village called Corsignano. But the birth in 1405 of Enea Silvio Piccolomini who fifty-three years later became Pope Pius II, he turned the tide.

In fact, during a trip to Mantua, the pontiff went through his hometown now fallen into decay and this vision led him to decide to restore luster to the town, entrusting the reconstruction work to the architect Bernardo ROSSELLINO. The works lasted about four years and transformed the old center degraded in a typical and harmonious fifteenth village which has since changed its name in Pienza in honor of the pontiff.

With the untimely death of Pope Pius II also ends the architectural evolution of Pienza which has since remained almost unchanged.

San Quirico d'Orcia is a country of ancient Etruscan origins that preserves a beautiful medieval structure. It is located in the province of Siena, on what was the path of the Via Francigena, which in this part and close to the current route of the Via Cassia. It is located on the hills that separate the Val d'Orcia and Val d'Asso, in an area with breathtaking views, listed by UNESCO as heritage to humanity first document of San Quirico dates back to 712 A.D. in a record related to a dispute between the dioceses of Siena and Arezzo for the possession of some parishes. Among these figure a parish of San Quirico in Osenna. "Osenna" leads us to the probable Etruscan origin of this town.
The village developed along the main thoroughfare, where many shops were built, workshops and taverns. It was established a weekly market, which contributed to increasing the trade, thanks to the exemption from payment of duties and taxes enacted in 1385. Along the Via Francigena also arose the Grange of the Hospital Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, with warehouse function agricultural and hospital for pilgrims.

Monticchiello already in Etruscan and Roman times it was the meeting place of roads connecting towns and communities in the area. still it retains the features of the austere medieval fortresses, decidedly opposing the Renaissance painting offered to us from Pienza. The sturdy walls and the keep that stands on the hill are the signs of the intense past of the village, a bastion of the defense system of the Republic of Siena. E 'with the passage under the protection of Siena that begins the story of Monticchiello of which, in reality, we have news dating back long before the city, as evidenced by the fact that his name is traced back to the gens Roman Clelia. Since 1200, the village took its present shape with the walls, the keep and the church, and were established typically municipal institutions, all provided for and regulated by statutes in the vernacular. It was also with the fall of the Sienese Republic in 1559 that Monticchiello came under the Medici and increasingly lost the role and the importance it had had. In 1777 he became part of Pienza municipal jurisdiction. The propositurale church of Saints Leonard and Christopher still remains a testimony to the heyday of the medieval fortress, preserving many of the Sienese school frescoes dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth secolo.Un rare example of cultural autonomy and collective commitment characterizes finally Monticchiello and its inhabitants: the "Poor Theatre". It was born and developed in Monticchiello long before the exact date of its inception (1967). The theatrical experience is a component closely linked to the life and history of the community from the past. The shows are a slice of life borghigiana proposing a study of topical drawing inspiration from local history and reinventing forms, now abandoned, the rural culture. He 'a kind of theater-life written by the same people, that is the people of Monticchiello, playing herself, testifies to their own reality presenting itself with its authentic existential and social situations. events such as exhibitions and conferences throughout the year accompany the theatrical activity that has its peak in the summer (mid-July to mid-August, shows every night except Monday).

Situated on a lovely hill 564 s.l.m. Montalcino still retains the charm of a medieval village. Its territory is part of the Artistic, Natural and Cultural Park of Val d'Orcia is covered with vineyards (from which we get excellent wines the most famous is the Brunello) olive trees and woods consisting prevalently of holm oak trees (in Latin Liex) from which probably it derives the name Montalcino (Mons Licinus) .The oldest document in which it appears Montalcino in 715 AD signed by the King of the Lombards, which tells the struggle between the Bishop of Siena and Arezzo for the possession of some parishes. Another medieval document dated 814 d.c. declares the donation of part of the territory of Montalcino by Louis the Pious to the Abbey of St. Antimo, magnificent architectural complex which currently is 9 km. from the country. According to a legend the Abbey stands on a votive chapel erecting by Charlemagne on this stretch of Via Francigena. Elevated to the rank of City and erected as a diocese in 1462 by Pope Pius II Piccolomini the Renaissance Montalcino experienced historical moments of great tension due to contention between Siena and Florence. After the surrender of Siena to the Medici in 1555 refugees veterans in the fourteenth century fortress founded the "Republic of Siena in Montalcino" who ruled until 1599 after which the country will suffer the vicissitudes of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Perched on a hill, offshoot of the northern slopes of Mount Amiata a short distance from the Via Cassia, Castiglione d'Orcia is a small town mainly agricultural and handicraft. It was mentioned in the early decades of the eighth century, Castiglione d'Orcia, originally property of the Aldobrandeschi, contended from the Abbey of San Salvatore, who became free city lost its independence because of Sienese conquest. The current Castiglione, gathering at the foot of the mighty fortress of Aldobrandeschi, retains its medieval character with quaint corners and caratteristici.Appartiene addition to the municipal territory the Fortress Tentennano, bulwark of the possessions of the Abbey of San Salvatore. The decay power of the abbey, the castle became the property of Tignosi family, vassals of the Aldobrandeschi, and was finally conquered by the Sienese. La Rocca, where he stayed Catherine of Siena, restored, can be visited. A short distance you can Rocca d'Orcia, an ancient village enriched by the presence of some beautiful churches and a characteristic square where you can admire an existing tanker since the thirteenth century. Significant from the point of view of the great natural limestone deposits of the White Ditch at Bagni di San Filippo, a town which is well known for its thermal waters that flow from alkaline sulphurous suggestive travertine rock at a temperature ranging Trai 25 and 52 ° C: here Servite friars have turned into a cave chapel is said to have stayed St. Philip Benizi, which in Bagni San Filippo worked many healings. We recall also charming towns such as Ripa, Campiglia and Vivo d'Orcia.

Radicofani offre la visione indimenticabile di panorami sconfinati che dall'Amiata spaziano alla catena dell'Appennino, dai laghi di Bolsena e Trasimeno al riverbero sfumato del Tirreno. Il paese sorge alle falde di un'elevata rupe vulcanica di roccia basalticache si erge a 896 metri sui mare, coronata dai ruderi di una imponente fortezza che per secoli dominò il valico di confine tra la Toscana e il Lazio. Di origine etrusca, come è risultato dal recente accertamento di un tempio dedicato al dio VERTUMNO nel bosco Isabella e dopo la frattura culturale prodotta dalle invasioni barbariche, Radicofani recuperò l'antico ruolo viario e strategico ad opera di Desiderio, ultimo re dei Longobardi. Nel corso dei secoli successivi Radicofani appartenne: allo Stato Pontificio, alla Repubblica di Siena, al Granducato di Toscana e al Regno d'italia dopo il plebiscito del 860. Partendo dalla sommità della rupe si impone alla vista il castello feudale edificato in epoca Carolingia. Ampliato e fortificato dal Papa Adriano IV (1154) fu successivamente trasformato in Fortezza per ordine di Cosimo i dei Medici dai famoso architetto Baldassarre Lanci e dal 1297 al 1300 fu inaccessibile rifugio del ghibellino Ghino di Tacco le cui imprese furono celebrate dall'Alighieri (VI canto del Purgatorio) e dal Boccaccio nel Decamerone. Dopo la caduta della Repubblica di Siena il castello fu teatro di una eroica resistenza fino al tramonto del giorno 17 Agosto 1559 quando fu ammainata la gloriosa Balzana ultima bandiera della libertà comunale in Italia. La fortezza subì il definitivo abbandono nel 735 dopo il doloso incendio della polveriera.

Bagni San Filippo is a small spa town in Val D'Orcia in southern Toscana.fosso white Historically known for its waters Bagni San Filippo is the ideal destination for an 'intimate and relaxing holiday. The spa with swimming pool and spa offers exceptional spa treatments and all-natural beauty thanks to 'use of the sulphurous waters of its sediments and sludge.
For nature lovers the Fosso Bianco will be the ideal place, a stream in the woods at the confluence of several hot springs in a succession of "pools" (tanks) where and 'can swim throughout the' year and take in the details limestone formations for suggestive forms have inspired such names as the white whale or the glacier.
For its location on the slopes of Mount Amiata in the Artistic, Natural and Cultural Park of Val d'Orcia, Bagni San Filippo is the ideal base for visiting the many attractions of southern Tuscany, enjoy the typical products and excellent local wines.