Via Francigena
Just leave the hotel, cross the square and after one hundred meters you are on the stretch of the Via Francigena that leads from San Quirico to Radicofani. If you turn left, in a couple of kilometers you will reach Vignoni Alto, a village of ancient beauty, with the small church of San Biagio and the stone bell tower and the old stone houses that stare out over the landscape which extends far and wide. wide as far as the eye can see. Walking on a dirt road in a few kilometers you arrive at San Quirico and it is a continuous look here and there because you are literally surrounded by beauty. Over there is Montalcino, and that over there is Pienza, looking south here is Monte Cetona and closer Radicofani, the Amiata: it seems that the whole Val d’Orcia wants to show itself in its unique splendor.
If instead you turn right, complete with a warning sign, you reach the Orcia river which you cross with a small bridge to go up towards Castiglione, and the detour is worth it because the historic center preserves precious jewels: the Palazzo Comunale, inside which a fresco from the Sienese school is preserved, “Madonna with Child and two Saints”; the splendid one Romanesque church of S. Maria Maddalena, whose façade dates back to the thirteenth century and the apse is a century older; there church of Santi Stefano e Degna, which was the most important religious building in Castiglione due to the richness of the works of art it contained, including a “Madonna and Child” by Simone Martini and another by Pietro Lorenzetti; the ruins of Rocca Aldobrandesca, made up of sections of walls, with squared stones, which towards the south appear as an imposing polygonal bastion, from where you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Amiata and the Val d’Orcia.
For those who wish to continue, a beautiful descent towards the valley leads to Le Briccole, an ancient hospital now in a state of abandonment. To reach Radicofani all you have to do is go up, and quite a bit, but you are certainly rewarded by the beautiful panorama you can enjoy along the way.
The stage that goes from San Quirico to Radicofani is 32.5 kilometers long. All information can be found on the official website of the Via Francigena, viefrancigene.org, or on the equally detailed website of the Tuscany Region:regione.toscana.it/via-francigena. Happy walking on the paths of light.
