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Medieval Val di Chiana is still evident, albeit reshaped and reinterpreted by the inescapable passing of time, in its stones, scenery and myths.
Testimony are castles, fortresses and churches dotting historically-bounteous hillsides. The original stream form which the valley takes it name and that today serves as a system of canals, was once an elusive river. Chose name mutated from Medieval Latin into the female ‘Chiana’.
We half-expect to see the reflections of its ancient villages and their inhabitants in its medieval relicts.
The fascinating civil and ecclesiastical architecture of this zone has been greatly enriched by its past. From Etruscan to roman, feudal to renaissance, with the presence of many and varied monastic orders, minor in size but of major historical interest and bearing witness to the complex and tumultuous events which have taken place in this corner of Toscana through the ages.
The farm or the main house, the shed farms among the cultivated fields, the rows of cypresses and woods: everything this is the panorama of these earths.
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This area is rich in small towns and villages, dominated by red brick and stone, the colors of the earth. During the Middle Ages, the local population discovered the merits of stone in building houses that would endure through time.
Terracotta and stone create a warm, secure environment, taking on deep tones at sunset that are reminiscent of fire.
Visitors are often surprised by the richness and originality of the local language.
Certain words have an antique sound, but the vocabulary unfailingly confirms that the Italian language originated here.
When asked for directions, the older inhabitants offer points of reference that have nothing to do with right or left, distance calculated in kilometers, or road signs, but rather with markers that go far back in time.
To whom does this land belong? Unquestionably, it belongs to those who live here, to those who were born here and to those who have chosen to live or work here.
But without a doubt, it also belongs to those who choose to visit, having discovered it perhaps through some captivating image or hearing it described by someone who has already been here.
Visitors have come to these places for centuries and been received with a great sense of hospitality and welcome.
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