Casa Monia E, Asciano

You will spend your vacation in an historic and fascinating location. A few steps away from the house, there is a large Etruscan tomb, dug straight into the rich vein of travertine which runs under the earth here.

The six apartments are part of a farming estate, at the heart of which is an historic medieval mill. This ancient stone building has been restored with love and respect for its original form, and is lovely to look at, standing alone and surrounded by greenery. Inside, there was a small mill-wheel, which was activated by one of the thermal springs with which this area is so richly endowed. Currently here you will find two of the six apartments.

Not far from here there is the one-level building in which three other vacation apartments are located. The sixth apartment is a cottage that is located near the pool.

Surrounding the entire complex you will find a beautiful lawn, divided by narrow stone pathways that cut across the greenery, and ornamented with urns overflowing with red geraniums. On this lawn, here and there, you will find on display some of the antique tools of "contadina" (peasant) life.

The farm practices organic agriculture, and you can buy extra-virgin olive oil, wine, truffles, vegetables and fruit on the premises. Also available for your use is a wine cellar, equipped with an Internet connection. 

The proprietors live on the property, and will graciously make themselves available to you to provide information about tourist attractions, or to help meet whatever various needs you may have.

You will be spending your vacation in the middle of one of the most characteristic and often-photographed regions of Tuscany, an area that extends from Siena to Montalcino. You will be able to gaze across a stretch of gentle clay hills, which in springtime are resplendent with the various green tints of the pastures or of cultivated grains, and cloaked in summertime with myriad shades of gold and of ochre.

Where the grain ends, the vineyards begin, most notably in the zone of Montalcino, famous for the Brunello wines that are produced there. And at the summit of practically every hill, you will find rows of small, slender, dark-green cypress trees, rural houses, churches and ancient fortifications, as well as medieval villages marked by the tall, distant spikes of their towers.

Staying here you will be 4 km (about 2.5 miles) from Rapolano Terme. In the thermal baths of Rapolano you will be able to take every type of curative spa treatment in the warm pools, which are also open in the evenings.

You will be nearby the cities of art: Siena is 28 km away (17.5 miles), Florence 70 km (56 miles), Perugia 70 km (43.5 miles), Arezzo 40 km (25 miles); and nearby are the most characteristic Tuscan villages that you can visit, starting with Montalcino, birthplace of the famous Brunello wine, which is just 30 km (19 miles) away.

If you like handicrafts, you will find in the Crete Senesi a multitude of workshops in which terracotta is made according to ancient traditions.

In this area, from September to November, the white truffle—the most rare and precious of truffles—is found.

Don’t miss the opportunity to travel the “via Chiantigiana,” which is the road that cuts across the entire production zone of Chianti wines. Along this road, lined to the left and right with rows of vines, you will find hills topped with castles and villages, the results of two millennia of history.

You can visit cantinas, discover excellent small restaurants, and experience for yourself the friendliness of the locals which is such a great part of the fascination that Tuscany holds for the rest of the world.

If you enjoy hiking, you can walk the Senesi hills, or that part of the via Franchigena that crosses the Montagnola Senese, a protected hilly area, covered with chestnut trees, where nature is truly uncontaminated.