Val d’Orcia Artistic, Natural and Cultural Park
A journey through the UNESCO World Heritage site
The Val d’Orcia Artistic Natural and Cultural Park was created to safeguard the natural and artistic riches of the valley. It was declared by the UNESCO World Heritage committee as a cultural landscape and consists of five municipalities: Castiglione d'Orcia, Montalcino, Pienza, Radicofani and San Quirico d'Orcia.
Val d’Orcia is iconic for its countryside and hills, which illustrate the relation between humans and nature in a fascinating scenery where farmed lands and vineyards are entwined with dirt tracks, farmhouses and cypress trees. This landscape, unique across the world, was loved and celebrated by the painters of the Sienese School of the Renaissance.
The park promotes its extraordinary heritage through low-impact tourism. For this reason, there are several itineraries to discover the land on foot just like the medieval pilgrims on the ancient Via Francigena; walking from Pienza, the ideal city of Pope Pio II, to the village of Montichiello; trekking the ring of Bagno Vignoni or the ancient Cassia da Torrenieri.
The Park also consists of two ancient spa towns stations: Bagno Vignoni, with its unforgettable piazza delle Sorgenti, an ancient pool almost 50 metres in length that used to collect thermal water, and Bagni San Filippo, with the Fosso Bianco, a great limestone deposit in the woods.
