Sienese Clays
 

The extraordinary colours of this countryside are depicted in all seasons in the beautiful Crete Senesi (literally Sienese clays). The area is interwoven with thousands of colours in spring, while in autumn it is laced with the colour of the earth and the yellow of the vines. Crete Senesi never ceases to amaze visitors.

 
Foto: Cristiano De Scisciolo (www.cdsweb.it)
 

San Giovanni d'Asso

 
   

Every year in San Giovanni d’Asso, which lies in the heart of the valley, the ‘miracle of the truffle’ is celebrated. Delicious dishes are cooked using truffles – true works of art when created at the hands of chefs from the area. In San Giovanni d’Asso you can participate in truffle-picking with expert pickers and their inseparable dogs. To book a visit or for further information, you only have to log on to the website: www.assotartufi. it. You can also order some of the finest products from the area through this site, and use them to cook unique and unforgettable dishes. The built-up area of San Giovanni d’Asso is dominated by a magnificent medieval castle where incredible underground rooms host the Museo del Tartufo (truffle museum).

 
   

Buonconvento

  
   
The story of Buonconvento is documented as being linked to the French king Filippo Augustus. In 1191 he, returning from the third crusade along the via Francigena, notes having stayed in the mansion of Bon-couvent. In 1559, with the fall of Siena, the village fell to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under the powerful Medici family. The village boasts a fourteenth-century wall, with their original, Sienese-style architectural forms. Along the walls there are two important buildings, one of them is the ethnographical sharecropping museum, dedicated to traditional farming system called “mezzadria”. The museum holds important exhibits and conserves rare examples of history of the original farmers.