Siena at the horizon

Our itinerary starts from Porta San Marco, also known as "delle maremme", built in the 14th century. We go through the first suburbs and then climb up along Provincial Road 73 for a few inevitably busy kilometers. When we reach Costafabbri, at the end of the climb, we make a left-hand turn, following the directions for Ginestreto, also at the next junction.

We reach the Provinciale Grossetana again, following the directions for San Rocco; from here we continue riding on the left and shortly after we head for Fogliano-Mugnano, on a road practically with no traffic.

Fogliano is worth a visit, particularly for the Pieve di San Giovanni Battista, dating from the 14th century. From the village, we can glimpse the Torre del Mangia in the distance.

Setting off again, the road soon becomes dirt, downhill (follow the directions for Mugnano), and then becomes paved again along the stretch that goes uphill. At Mugnano, we can admire a beautiful tower-house and a splendid Romanesque parish church.

The next stretch, unpaved, leads to Provincial Road 46 and plunges down the valley and then up the hill opposite us. Arriving at the asphalt, we make a right-hand turn toward Ville di Corsano, where we make a short detour to reach the splendid Pieve di San Giovanni Battista in Corsano, admiring the purity of the building's Romanesque architecture.

Back in Ville di Corsano, riding on dirt roads, a rather strenuous stretch awaits us to reach, at the top of a hillock, the Castello di Grotti. A mighty manor house that was part of the defensive curtain of Siena, today the structure is an on-farm tourism.

Shortly after the village of Grotti Alto the road begins to descend to the bottom of the valley, where we make a right-hand turn following the directions for San Rocco a Pilli. At Brucciano the road becomes paved again. At this point we turn right on the Municipal Road from San Rocco to Brucciano, which goes through the village with the Chiesa di San Salvatore until we reach San Rocco a Pilli.

From San Rocco to Siena there are about 10 kilometers, with an altimetry that is always undulating, this time passing through Costalpino and with a challenging final climb that takes us back to Porta San Marco.

Itinerary curated by stradedisiena.it