Travels in Tuscany

We begin with a visit to Volterra before reaching Pienza in the Val d'Orcia, where our hotel is a beautifully restored 15th century convent.  After exploring the town with its cathedral and the hanging garden at the Palazzo Piccolomini, we venture to Chiusi to visit the Etruscan Museum and the private gardens of Villa la Foce, and Montepulciano to see the Church of San Biagio.  We also visit the beautiful city of Siena, renowned for its spectacular Gothic cathedral, Palazzo Pubblico and medieval piazza, and the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore to see Sodoma's cycle of frescoes.  We then journey to the unspoiled medieval hill-town of Cortona, setting for the film Under the Tuscan Sun, where our hotel is a restored 15th/16th century palazzo.  From here, after exploring Cortona's churches, Accademia Etrusca and Museo Diocesano, we visit the medieval town of Arezzo and study Piero della Francesco's Legend of the Cross frescoes in the Church of San Francesco.  We also see his Madonna del Parto in the hill-top town of Monterchi, and visit Stia for a private lunch at Castello di Porciano.  Our final visits are to Prato, which has Lippi frescoes in the cathedral, and Pistoia with its fine churches and Della Robbia terracotta frieze.

Day 1: Tuesday, 19th October

London / Volterra / Pienza
Depart London Heathrow on a British Airways morning flight to Pisa.

Lunch in a local restaurant en route to Volterra.  Visit the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, which provides an introduction to the origins of Tuscany.  Drive through the rolling Tuscan countryside to Pienza and check into the Hotel Il Chiostro, a converted monastery, where four nights are spent.  Dinner at the hotel.

Day 2: Wednesday 20th October

Pienza & Chiusi
Morning tour of the enchanting Renaissance town of Pienza, built for Pope Pius II to the designs of the Florentine architect, Rossellino.  Visits include the Cathedral which shows the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance style, the Cathedral Museum with some early Quattrocento paintings as well as the remarkable 14th century Opus Anglicanum, historiated cope, and the courtyard and hanging garden of the Palazzo Piccolomini.  Continue to Chiusi to see the well-displayed Etruscan finds from tombs in the surrounding area in the Archaeological Museum.

Lunch at La Fattoria.  In the afternoon visit the gardens of Villa La Foce owned by Benedetta Origo and designed by her mother, Iris Origo and the architect Cecil Pinsent in the late 1920s.  Dinner under own arrangements.

Day 3: Thursday 21st October

Pienza & Siena
This morning drive to Siena to see the great treasures of Sienese art in the Gothic Cathedral with the beautifully frescoed Piccolomini Library, the Museo dell'Opera with Duccio di Buoninsegna's spectacular Cathedral altarpiece and the Baptistery with its magnificent font decorated by Jacopo della Quercia, Donatello and Ghiberti among other artists.  The 13th and 14th century Palazzo Pubblico overlooks the fan-shaped Campo Square, focus of life in Siena since the early Middle Ages and scene of the annual Palio horse race.

Lunch at Ristorante Le Logge.  Returning to Pienza along the Roman Via Cassia visit the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore to see the vivid frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Il Sodoma depicting the life of St. Benedict.  Dinner at the hotel.

Day 4: Friday 22nd October

Pienza
Drive south of Siena to the serene Cistercian Abbey of Sant'Antimo.  The isolated church is a fine example of Romanesque architecture with Burgundian and Lombard influences and has an austere interior with alabaster capitals and windows. 

Lunch at a privately owned medieval castle (subject to confirmation).  In the afternoon visit the nearby 14th century monastic buildings of Sant'Anna in Camprena with frescoes painted by Il Sodoma.  Dinner under own arrangements.

Day 5: Saturday 23rd October

Pienza / Montepulciano / Cortona
Leave by coach for Montepulciano to see the pilgrimage church of the Madonna di San Biagio, a Renaissance gem in travertine stone built by Sangallo.  En route to the town of Cortona see the Church of Madonna del Calcinaio, a 15th century masterpiece of the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini before arriving at the Hotel San Michele where three nights are spent.

Lunch at Ristorante Il Preludio.  Visit the Accademia Etrusca, where the highlight of the museum is the unique 4th century Etruscan lamp.  In the Museo Diocesano see works by Beato Angelico, Pietro Lorenzetti and Luca Signorelli.  A walk in the meandering medieval streets of the upper part of the town leads to the Church of San Nicolò with a notable double-sided painting by Signorelli.  Dinner at Ristorante Il Teatro.

Day 6: Sunday 24th October

Cortona, Arezzo, Sansepolcro & Monterchi
Leave by coach for Arezzo for visits  to include the Romanesque Pieve di Santa Maria, with its magnificent altarpiece by Pietro Lorenzetti, the scenic Piazza Grande and the Church of San Francesco to see the restored Piero della Francesca fresco cycle of the Legend of the True Cross.

Lunch at the Buca di San Francesco.  Drive onward to Sansepolcro for a visit to the Museo Civico to see Piero's notable painting of the Resurrection before visiting the town of Monterchi to see his fresco of the Madonna del Parto.  Dinner in Cortona under own arrangements.

Day 7:  Monday 25th October

Cortona & Stia
Leave by coach for the Pieve di Romena near Stia.  The 12th century parish church is a fine example of the Tuscan Romanesque style.  Nearby is the the village of Porciano which overlooks the Casentino Valley and is nestled around the ancient Castle built by the Counts Guidi around the year 1000.  The tower is privately owned and houses a small museum with farming and domestic artefacts as well as archaeological finds related to the history of the Castle. 

Lunch privately with the owner, Martha Specht Corsi.  Return to Cortona for time to walk in the town at leisure.  Dinner at Ristorante Il Preludio beside the hotel.

Day 8: Tuesday 26th October

Cortona / Prato / London
Leave for Prato, a city noted for its cloth industry, which boasts fine works of art.  Visit the 14th century Cathedral with its magnificent frescoes by Filippo Lippi and the work of Donatello in the Cathedral Museum.

Snack lunch in Prato.  Continue to Pisa Airport for an early afternoon flight to London, arriving Heathrow Airport mid afternoon.