|
san quirico d'orci and bagno vignoni |
| SAN QUÍRICO D'ORCIA , a rambling old village, stands at a crossroads
8km west of Pienza. Despite being a major stop for TRA-IN (Siena-Montepulciano),
RAMA (Siena-Arcidosso) and SIRA (Montalcino-Rome) buses, its old town is
quiet and rather decayed, with an exceptionally pretty Romanesque
Collegiata church. With your own transport, head for the stunning
Castello Ripa d'Órcia , an isolated castle hotel-restaurant 5km
southwest of town down a gravel road (tel 0577.897.376, fax
0577.898.038, info@castelloripadorcia.com ;
L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29). You can rent bikes from Valenti Alfiero, Via delle Madonnina 28 in Pienza (tel 0578.748.465) to follow a country track south to the medieval baths at BAGNO VIGNONI , 6km southeast of San Quírico (also served by bus). Its central square is occupied by an arcaded Roman piscina , or open pool; the springs still bubble up at a steamy 51°C, and the old, flooded piazza with its backdrop of the Tuscan hills and Renaissance loggia - built by the Medici, who, like St Catherine of Siena, took the sulphur cure here - made a memorable scene in Tarkovsky's film Nostalgia . The piscina has been out of bounds for bathing for some years, but you can bathe in the sulphur springs at the characterful Posta Marcucci hotel just below the village (tel 0577.887.112, fax 0577.887.119, www.hotelpostamarcucci.it ; L200,000-250,000/¬103.29-129.11; pool free to guests, L12,000/¬6.20 to others). Pius II's fifteenth-century summer retreat overlooking the piscina is now the romantic Albergo Le Terme (tel 0577.887.150, fax 0577.877.497, albergoleterme@tin.it ; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47). Best restaurant is the excellent Antica Osteria del Leone , Via dei Mulini 3 (tel 0577.877.300; closed Mon). |