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A split personality cathedral: Romanesque arcading topped by Gothic pinnacles and belltower. It houses wonderfully idiosyncratic sculpture: three takes on the life of local patron San Cerbone and lovely pre-Romanesque carvings.

Lorenzo the Magnificent recruited the young artist to study the sculptures in the Medici gardens.

Famously irascible, he was a sculptor of genius by his early 20s, who only painted the Sistine Chapel under protest. He also found time to design Florence’s defences, write quality sonnets and become a significant architect.

The Benedictine Rule forbids turning away travellers, and so drop-in guests as well as those signed up to the week-long workshops (Easter– mid-Sep) are welcomed. Many rooms have private bath.

Full-bodied wines from the estate that was the first, in 1968, to make a single cru Chianti and a 100 percent Sangiovese Chianti.

A natural sauna formed from a series of subterranean caves above a sulphurous underground lake, filled with hot mineral-laden vapours. (see Northwestern Tuscany)

The hometown of Tuscany’s mightiest wine, Brunello (see Brunello di Montalcino), is a small but proud burg, with an excellent wine shop in the ruined 14th-century Fortezza, a split-level main square and a lanky 1292 tower. The Museo Civico e Diocesano houses paintings by Simone Martini, Sano di Pietro and Vecchietta, and polychrome wood statues by Francesco di Valdambrino.

Montalcino stands proudly high above the valley; this was the last ally of Siena against Florentine rule. The hilltop eyrie is dominated by the shell of a 14th-century fortress, which has fantastic views, and is now a place where you can sample Montalcino’s Brunello wine (see Tuscan Wine Styles), Tuscany’s most robust red.

Montalcino celebrates hunting season by throwing a food festival in the medieval fortezza , roasting thousands of thrushes on spits over open fires, boiling up vats of polenta and washing it all down with Brunello wine.