La Capannina

Enjoy the beautiful view of the valley!

Bordering on the garden of Villa San Giovanni (also featured in our portfolio) stands the small villa La Capannina, whose origins date back to the XVth century. The private entrance of the house leads out onto a terrace furnished with a table, six chairs and a large umbrella, where also a little private swimming pool is located, maintained by a gardener. Going down the two short stairs (4 steps) you reach an open space with three sunbeds, two deckchairs and with an antique well (XIVth century) which is shut with a grating. At the end of area is a bathroom with shower/changing room, which serves the swimming pool. Everywhere you can enjoy the beautiful view of the valley.

Entering the house from the terrace you'll find yourself in a wide room, which is divided in several areas: a sitting room with a big XVI th century fireplace, a dining area and a kitchen equipped with fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and a little oven. An iron and travertine stair leads you to the first floor, where two double-bedded and one twin-bedded are located, sharing two bathrooms with shower. All the bedrooms are equipped with air-conditioning. The house is also provided with an indipendent central heating. All bedlinen and towels are included. A parking is 60 m from the house, but you can reach the square near the house with your car to load and unload your suitcases and shopping bags.

San Giovanni is a small village with approximately 300 inhabitants. La Capannina is situated in the upper part of the village - the "Borghetto", near the ancient castle, the origins of which date back to the XIIth century, and which is now the seat of the municipal authorities. The territory of San Giovanni includes the hamlets of Montisi, Lucignano d'Asso, Monterongriffoli, Vergelle and Pieve a Salti. (San Giovanni was originally the seat of rural Etruscan settlements, an area contested by both the Bishops of Arezzo and Siena, and it was sacked by the Ghibellines in 1315. It assumed a more precise definition of its municipal boundaries with the General Regulation of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1777.) The castle hosts the famous White Truffle Market in the month of November.

The ancient romanesque church of San Giovanni Battista is near to the castle, while in the lower part of the village lies the most important church in the area, the beautiful San Pietro in Villore, built in the XIth and XIIth centuries, and which is now surrounded by many cypresses. Within the municipal territory is the picturesque village of Montisi, with its Chiesa dell'Annunziata and its historical grain tower. Here, every year, on the Sunday nearest to the 5th of August (the Festival of the Madonna delle Nevi, the patron saint of Montisi) a jousting contest - the 'Giostra di Simone' - takes place. Among the agricultural products of the area, the white truffle is prized and famous throughout Italy, as are the excellent wines, oil, savoury cheeses and honey. In this upper part of the village there is a fine restaurant.

The lower part of San Giovanni d'Asso has an 'osteria' (simple restaurant), a baker and butcher, a pharmacy, a post office, a supermarket and cafe/bar. There are public tennis courts 8 km away at Torrenieri, the famous abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is 7 km away, the thermal spa town of San Quirico d'Orcia is 14 km away, Montalcino 17 and Pienza 20 km. The beautiful medieval city of Siena lies some 40 km away, and Florence and San Gimignano are within a day's drive. There is no public transport in San Giovanni, and it is essential therefore to have a car. The nearest airports are approximately 2 and a half hours' equidistant drive away from Rome, Florence and Pisa.

The property's location makes excursions to Siena, Assisi, Orvieto, Perugia, Arezzo and Florence an easy day trip. But the area below Siena, stretching from the monastery of Monte Oliveto to Montalcino and Montepulciano offers some rewarding sites that are well worth a visit.

In San Quirico d'Orcia make sure you see the Horti Leonini, an early Renaissance garden, as well as the western door in the city wall and the Collegiata (main church).

Montalcino is beautifully situated on a hill inhabited since Etruscan times, swathed in vineyards and olive groves. It is a quiet, affluent, attractive town with pretty buildings and flower-filled squares, and many shops selling the Brunello di Montalcino.

Montepulcino is a graceful Tuscan hill town, best known for its Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which was being praised by connoisseurs over 200 years ago and can certainly contend with Italy's best today.

Pienza, the unfinished 'utopian' city, was commissioned by Pope Pius II in 1459.

Chiusi is one of our favourites because of its unpretentious liveliness. Compared to Montepulciano it is uncontaminated by tourism. Chiusi has a railway station - from here it is a quick ride to the city center of Rome.

Monticchiello is a pleasant walled village, whose crooked watch-tower is visible from afar. Next to the church is a small shop which sells local linens (towels, bedspreads) and materials in pure linen. They use traditional methods and patterns and the results are extremely attractive.

Visit the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and the semi-derelict monastery of Sant'Anna in Camprena - a very romantic setting which served as location for the film 'The English Patient'.

Sant'Antimo is surely one of the loveliest Romanesque buildings in all of Italy. It is hard to imagine a more sympathetic combination of architectural grace and natural setting.

And last but not least the landscape in this region of Tuscany is spectacular: The Crete Senesi are the eroded clay hills in the Orcia valley. These strange, pale, barren looking slopes, with their bare cliffs, broken gullies and white Jurassic limestone, look altogehter more lunar than terrestial.

Tuscany is famous for its Hot springs, belonging to a geothermical system that more or less encircles Monte Amiata, the most spectacular being Saturnia in the south west of the region. Steaming water collects in a number of white limestone basins - a rare natural spectacle and great fun to bathe in! Swimming possible both in the natural basins and in smart thermal baths. Saturnia offers a wide range of comforts and even a sauna.

Close to the property is Bagno Vignoni which has been popular since Etruscan times. St. Catherine of Siena is said to have appreciated its thearpeutic qualities, as is Lorenzo the Magnificent, whose family built the splendid arcaded pool - a kind of flooded, bubbling piazza, famously used by Tarkowsky for some of the more surreal passages of his film 'Nolstalgia'. Not far from this antique piazza there is a hotel with a lovely open air swimming pool, fed from hot springs. This is also available to external guests.

Bagni San Filippo may go into the books as the world's smallest thermal spa - a telephone booth, a few old houses, outdoor spring in the middle of the woods with glistening limestone formations and one small hotel with a public pool.

In Rapolano Terme there are two wonderful thermal spas - particulary beautiful are the San Giovanni Terme.

The Montepulciano thermal springs can also be enjoyed in an indoor thermal swimming pool. Have yourself thoroughly pampered! Just relax here!

The pictures below show the entrance to the house, view onto the village of San Giovanni d'Asso in the distance, the ancient hot water square in Bagni Vignoni (about 20 km from the house), the 'island of the cypresses' - famous natural monument of the Val d'Orcia (about 20 km from the house).