Surroundings

The Valdichiana (or Val Di Chiana) is a territory of alluvial origin, which includes not only the surroundings of Arezzo but also part of the province of Siena, also in Tuscany, and the Umbrian provinces of Perugia and Terni. It owes its name to the Canale Maestro della Chiana, today an artificial canal, but in the past a real navigable river.

Cortona is a beautiful village, the heart of Val Di Chiana, overlooking Lake Trasimeno. It is a medieval village, with ancient buildings, narrow streets and craft stores, an important cultural and tourist center of Tuscany, with clear signs of the passage of Etruscan civilization.

Castle village with an elliptical plan, stands in the middle of a rigorous countryside, surrounded by walls with towers, in the typical style of the Middle Ages. What to see in Lucignano: Palazzo Comunale, Chiesa della Collegiata, Chiesa di San Francesco, Rocca, Pieve di San Giovanni Battista.

Important castrum of the Middle Ages, with walls almost intact, has a troubled history: it was first a fief of a local squire, then passed under the command of Arezzo and Perugia, became the property of the church and finally a stronghold of Florence.

The Casentino is the green valley of Arezzo, made of forests and natural paradises, with waterfalls and long slopes, among whose trees are small villages perched on the hills, dominating a lush valley. Casentino is the first land bathed by the Arno River, which has its source on Mount Falterona, and is mainly known for the presence of important abbeys, first of all the Monastery of Camaldoli.