Stop for a moment in Chianciano Terme

Chianciano Terme is a municipality in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany. It is located at the border between the Val d’Orcia and the Val di Chiana. Chianciano’s picturesque old town centre is characterised by its well-ordered layout, with a wide range of small artisan workshops, and ample opportunities to sample the best traditional local foods.

Chianciano Terme is famous all over the world for its spas. The area is rich in natural springs, whose water, “Acqua Santa” of Chianciano, has been celebrated for its curative and depurative properties since time immemorial. Chianciano Terme has two separate areas. Chianciano Vecchia is located atop a small hill. In contrast is the modern quarter, the Terme, whose nucleus has grown around the thermal springs. The water of Chianciano comes from five different types of springs and each one has great characteristics, specialized in liver therapy.

Leaving the Chianciano Terme towards Val d'Orcia it is worth a stopover in the stunning gardens in the Villa la Foce. The garden grew gradually, between 1925 and 1939 and was designed by Cecil Pinsent. It surrounds the villa and it is divided into geometrical "rooms" using hedges with lemon trees in terracotta pots. There is also a travertine staircase that leads to a rose and winding garden covered with a wisteria pergola surrounded by a lavender hedge.

Gentle informal terraces climb up the hill, where cherry trees, pines and cypresses grow among wild broom, thyme and rosemary, and a long cypress avenue leads to a 17th-century stone statue. Through the wood, a path joins the garden and the family cemetery, considered one of Pinsent's best creations.