*Why God was wrong to live
in France: We are Kate and Patrick from Belgium. After 25
years of annual holidays in the region of Cortona we decided two years ago to
buy a small holiday home there. Now we divide our time between Belgium and
Italy. We love everything about Tuscany: the perfect mix of climate, food,
nature, art and culture…. Some might say it is more a kind of sickness or
obsession rather than a simple passion!
We want to share with you why Italy surprises
us time and again. We tend to avoid the “big things” and take the small hidden
gems…
* “Living as God in
France” is an originally German expression meaning “living carefree and enjoying
the good of the earth” (“living like a king or a renaissance prince…”)
This time we want to share with you our visit
to Monte
San Savino. It is a small town (8.500 inhabitants) in the Val di
Chiana, 40 minutes by car, south-west
direction of Cortona along the A1-highway. This originally Etruscan settlement
still keeps its medieval and renaissance character. The sculptor Andrea Contucci, better known as Sansavino, was born here
in 1460.
We start our visit at the Porta Fiorentina and
take the main street to the Palazzo di Monte, a renaissance
residence, today used as the municipality:
Porta Fiorentina
Behind is the beautiful renaissance roof garden
Let’s go inside the palace – you’ll need to watch
your head and put on a helmet to discover the XVIth century prison cells (Ex-Carcere)
Ex-carcere
Since
the restauration in 2020 one can visit the covered water cistern which
dates back to the 1600’s (“il cisterone”). Situated under the roof-garden of
the palazzo it was originally ment to provide water for the community, now it
is used to irrigate the garden. At 400 m² it is the largest stone water reservoir
in Tuscany.
Water reservoir with
pointed arch 6
Both (the carcere and the water cistern) are
nice places to visit with children!
Let’s turn back to the Palazzo. Right in front of it is the Loggia dei
Mercanti (the merchant's loggia) in ‘pietra serena’:
A little bit further away in the main street,
we ‘ll find the most important church of the town: the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino.
The façade is in a very simple gothic style.
Inside there are beautiful frescoes from the
XVth century:
But
we like most of all the paintings of Saint Lawrence on the wall on the right.
See one of the detailed scenes here below:
Lawrence
was a Christian martyr in the years 250 BC. At a certain moment it was decided to torture
him on a grate over a fire. Look at his casual attitude on
the fresco, just like he is taking a sunbath: According to legend, he said: "I'm already cooked on one side,
please turn me around !"
Here you see him once again with his barbecue
grill, now in the Santa Chiara church in the Piazza Gamurrini (a work by
Sansavino).
In this church you’ll find also a rather scary, creepy closet with a Madonna….:
Are you hungry after such a cultural shower?
Don’t worry, here is the last surprise: the Porchetta Monte San Savino is famous
all over the world for its taste, the unique and unmissable flavor, cooked in a
wood oven, crispy crust and tender, very soft meat ... Anyone passing through
Valdichiana must absolutely stop in this village to taste one of the tastiest
pork meats in Tuscany and Italy. In 2010 the community was even nominated in
the Guinness book of Records for producing the longest Porchetta in the world!
Other things to
mention:
Weekly market on
Wednesday
Great espresso served at “Il Mio bar”….
