Around Italy: Toscana, Renaissance Cities, Medieval Hill Towns, Vineyards, and the Art of Living Well

Around Italy: Toscana, Renaissance Cities, Medieval Hill Towns, Vineyards, and the Art of Living Well

Toscana shaped much of the world’s image of Italy. Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Pienza, Cortona, and countless smaller towns sit among vineyards, olive groves, cypress roads, wooded hills, and agricultural estates.

Firenze, the Cradle of the Renaissance

Florence became one of the great centers of Renaissance art, banking, politics, architecture, and humanist thought. The Medici family helped support artists and architects whose work transformed European culture.

The Duomo

Brunelleschi’s dome over Santa Maria del Fiore remains one of the great achievements of Renaissance engineering. Giotto’s Campanile and the Baptistery complete one of Italy’s most important architectural ensembles.

The Uffizi

The Uffizi contains masterpieces by Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and many others.

Michelangelo’s David

David became a defining image of Renaissance humanism, civic pride, and technical mastery.

Ponte Vecchio and Oltrarno

Ponte Vecchio crosses the Arno while Oltrarno preserves artisan workshops, smaller piazzas, markets, churches, and a more residential rhythm.

Tuscan Cuisine

Traditional Tuscan food is rooted in simplicity: bread, beans, vegetables, olive oil, meat, herbs, game, and seasonal produce.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

A thick bone-in steak is cooked over intense heat and served rare. Heavy sauces would only interfere with the quality of the meat.

Ribollita

Bread, beans, and vegetables become one of Tuscany’s great examples of cucina povera.

Pappa al Pomodoro and Panzanella

Both dishes transform stale bread into something essential. Tomatoes, olive oil, vegetables, and good technique turn leftovers into regional classics.

Siena

Siena preserves one of Europe’s great medieval urban environments. Narrow streets climb toward Piazza del Campo, the Palazzo Pubblico, and the extraordinary cathedral.

The Palio

The Palio is deeply connected with Siena’s contrade. It is not simply a horse race but a complex expression of neighborhood identity, ritual, rivalry, and civic pride.

Chianti

Between Florence and Siena lie vineyard-covered hills, olive groves, castles, stone farmhouses, and villages that form one of Italy’s classic wine landscapes.

Chianti Classico

Sangiovese gives the best wines red fruit, acidity, herbs, earth, spice, and aging potential.

San Gimignano

Medieval towers create a skyline unlike almost anywhere else in Italy. The town is also associated with Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

Val d’Orcia

Rolling fields, cypress-lined roads, isolated farmhouses, and medieval villages make the Val d’Orcia one of Tuscany’s most celebrated landscapes.

Pienza

Pienza was redesigned according to Renaissance humanist ideas and is famous for pecorino cheese.

Montepulciano

The hill town is associated with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, based primarily on Sangiovese. It should not be confused with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which refers to a different grape and region.

Montalcino

Montalcino became internationally famous through Brunello di Montalcino.

Brunello

Produced from Sangiovese, Brunello can develop extraordinary complexity with age, combining fruit, earth, herbs, leather, tobacco, and spice.

Pici

Pici are thick hand-rolled pasta strands associated especially with southern Tuscany. Their irregularity is part of their character.

Wild Boar

Cinghiale appears in ragù, stews, roasts, and cured preparations and is central to inland Tuscan cuisine.

Lucca

Lucca’s Renaissance walls form a broad pedestrian circuit around a refined historic center. Piazza dell’Anfiteatro follows the footprint of an ancient Roman amphitheater.

Pisa

The Leaning Tower forms only one part of the extraordinary Piazza dei Miracoli. Medieval Pisa was also one of the great maritime republics.

Arezzo

Arezzo preserves Etruscan, Roman, medieval, and Renaissance layers and is especially associated with Piero della Francesca.

Cortona and the Etruscans

Cortona, Volterra, Chiusi, and other towns preserve important evidence of the Etruscan civilization that shaped central Italy before Roman domination.

Bolgheri

Bolgheri transformed modern Tuscan wine through the success of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and wines such as Sassicaia.

Maremma

Southern coastal Tuscany is wilder and less manicured, with Mediterranean scrub, wetlands, vineyards, cattle country, and the traditional butteri horsemen.

Elba

The island of Elba combines Napoleon’s history with beaches, mountains, vineyards, harbors, and hiking.

Tuscan Olive Oil

Fresh Tuscan oil can be intensely grassy, bitter, peppery, and aromatic. Poured over toasted bread, it becomes fettunta.

Tuscan Bread

Traditional Tuscan bread is famously unsalted, making it an ideal partner for strongly flavored salumi, soups, and cheeses.

Lardo di Colonnata

Pork fat aged in marble basins near Carrara becomes an aromatic, delicate specialty.

Carrara Marble

The white marble quarries of Carrara have supplied stone since Roman times and were used by Michelangelo.

Truffles

San Miniato is especially famous for white truffles, making autumn one of the region’s great gastronomic seasons.

When to Visit

Spring and autumn are ideal for cities and countryside. Summer brings heat and crowds but long days. Winter offers quieter cultural travel and hearty food.

What Makes Toscana Special

Tuscany’s international image is powerful, but the real region is broader: industrial towns, wild coast, mountains, Etruscan ruins, peasant soups, aristocratic wines, Renaissance masterpieces, and agricultural traditions. Its greatness lies in turning food, landscape, art, architecture, and daily life into culture.

Around Italy by ZAFFERANO & CO.

Chef Gianluca