Montepulciano is about 60 km southeast of Siena. The town is built on the crest of a hill 605 metres above sea level. The town is Etruscan in origin, but became an independent province in the fourteenth century.
The cultural town of Cortona is packed with Renaissance architecture. Famous architects who have left their mark on this town include Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Giovanni Battista Infregliati (also called Cristofanello) and from the 15th century, Angelo and Francesco di Pietro and later Urbano da Cortona and Ciuccio di Nuccio as well as the architect Domenico Bernabei (also called Boccadoro).
Orvieto lies on a rocky plateau north of Rome. Because of its location on an remote cliff face, the town has developed peacefully, and over the past 3,000 years, there has been so much construction that the town today consists of several layers.
At the top of a forest covered peak in Tuscany the monastery Monte Oliveto Maggiore stands in solitary majesty. You get here by driving up the winding country road before arriving at the impressive building complex. The monastery was built at the start of the 14th century when 3 Sienese noblemen and the holy Bernado Tolomei settled in this rugged place to pray and work.
