Manarola, pictured here, is one of the Cinque Terre which are actually in Liguria but are frequently visited from a vacation base in Tuscany. Cinque Terre means the “five lands” and refers to five fishing villages perched on the high and steep coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Although at least one or two nights are
Posts Tagged ‘Things to see and do in Chianti’
Della Robbia Madonna in the Church of San Michele in Volterra
This exquisite painted and glazed terracotta Madonna with Child by Giovanni della Robbia is located in a marble tabernacle in the presbytery on the left of the entrance to the Church of San Michele in Volterra. It’s one of the most beautiful masterpieces to be seen in this fascinating Tuscan hilltop town. La Chiesa de San
Spaltenna, the castle and the parish church near Gaiole in Chianti
If you’re in search of great material for scenic photography (plus some history and architecture), pay a visit to Spaltenna, the castle and the parish church near Gaiole in Chianti, Tuscany. Spaltenna is a classic example of a Tuscan fortified settlement consisting of a monastery (previously a castle), a parish church and a cluster of
Certaldo Alto, hometown of Boccaccio
When you’re exploring Tuscany to the southwest of Florence, the old town of Certaldo in Tuscany, known as Certaldo Alto, is definitely worth a visit. This is the hometown of Boccaccio, author of the Decameron and contemporary of Petrarch, and it retains much of its mediaeval architecture and charm. Boccaccio’s house for the last years
Butteri, the cowboys of the coastal Maremma plains of Tuscany
Butteri were the cowboys (formerly also mounted shepherds) of the coastal Maremma plains of Tuscany. The buttero was a herdsman, the man in charge of watching over, taking care of, taming and breaking in large herds of cows and horses bred in the wild. However, the land reclamation works carried out under Mussolini in the