Castiglione d'Orcia

A thousand-year-old village in the heart of Tuscany

The charming town of Castiglione d'Orcia, in the province of Siena, is perched on one of the verdant hills of the Val d'Orcia, between rows of vineyards and roads lined with cypress trees. It is a typical Tuscan village, with stone and brick houses, offering beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.

The area is rich in history, as embodied by the Rocca Aldobrandesca, which dominates the village from above and retains remnants of the ancient medieval walls, and the Rocca di Tentennano, built on top of the rocky spur for military purposes.

Castiglione d'Orcia is a focal point of the ancient Via Francigena. Its historic centre provides moments of wonder with an atmosphere seemingly suspended in time, as with the Piazza Il Vecchietta. Dedicated to the 15th-century painter Lorenzo di Pietro known as Il Vecchietta, it has a triangular shape, a cobblestone and red brick pavement and houses a 17th-century well-cistern. The square is also overlooked by the Palazzo Comunale, which houses a fresco of the Sienese school depicting the Madonna and Child with Two Saints.

Not to be missed is the San Giovanni Art Room, a small museum of paintings, located in the former oratory of San Giovanni Battista.