VAL DI CHIANA, ETRUSCAN AND TUSCAN WINE
We suggest to leave after breakfast from your location (villa, hotel, farmhouse) for an exciting daytrip, during which you will travel through vineyards and fields of sunflowers. In the morning you can reach Cortona and its charming historical centre, set of the famous movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Cortona was founded by the Etruscans in the earliest phase of their civilization and it was one of their most important cities. In fact you will have the opportunity of visiting the Museum of the Etruscan Academy, extremely rich in works of art and craftworks discovered in the several archaeological sites located in the area; you can also admire the original Etruscan walls, built in the VI – V century BC to protect the city. During the Middle Ages, Cortona was a free City-State and then a Seigniory: amongst the monuments that date back to this period, we mention the Town Hall, the Cathedral and Via del Gesù (a quaint medieval alley with fine buildings on both sides). The traditional Tuscan cooking is the feather on the cap of the city. You will have the chance of tasting the delicious salamis, the Chianina meat, and the hand made pasta in one of the nice restaurants in the town, or at the Avignonesi Winery, where it is also possible to visit the cellar and to taste the very good wine of their own production. After lunch you can go to Montepulciano, home of the Nobile Wine. We suggest to start the visit from Piazza Grande (the main square in the town): here you can visit the Town Hall and the Cathedral. Then, you can have the opportunity to pay a visit to the Redi Winery (an ancient cellar, carved beneath the town, dating back to the XVI century) where, if you want, you can also taste the famous Vino Nobile of Montepulciano.
