DK Travel : Tuscany : Western Hill Towns

Western Hill Towns : Overview & Top 10

When people imagine the archetypal Tuscan hill town, they are most likely to be picturing those in the area west of Siena. This is where San Gimignano thrusts its grey stone towers into blue skies, where Volterra’s medieval streets and alabaster artisans sit atop “a towering great bluff that gets all the winds and sees all the world” (D. H. Lawrence). More off the beaten track, the underrated Elsa Valley is home to other attractive hill towns, including Colle di Val d’Elsa, Certaldo and Castelfiorentino, which have virtually no crowds and offer a better glimpse of genuine Tuscan town life.

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Volterra

Alabaster-carving is the local speciality of this windswept town with its medieval alleyways. The Museo Etrusco Guarnacci has one of Italy’s finest Etruscan collections, and the worn basalt heads adorning Porta all’Arco (4th century BC) represent Etruscan gods. The remains of a Roman theatre and baths are best seen from the viewing point off Via Guarnacci. The Pisan-striped 13th-century Duomo, with its meticulously carved and painted ceiling, houses Byzantine and Renaissance treasures, while the Pinacoteca boasts a fully intact Taddeo di Bartolo altarpiece (1411), Ghirlandaio’s final painting (Apotheosis of Christ , 1492), Luca Signorelli’s Annunciation (1491) and Rosso Fiorentino’s masterful early Mannerist Deposition (1521).