Tuscany villas to rent - Villa San Giovanni, formal gardens and a private pool southeast of Siena, Italy.
San Giovanni is a small village with approximately 300 inhabitants. The houses are in the upper part of the village - the Borghetto, near the ancient castle, dating back to the 12th century, and now the seat of the municipal authorities. The territory of San Giovanni includes the hamlets of Montisi, Lucignano d'Asso, Monterongriffoli, Vergelle and Pieve a Salti. San Giovanni was originally an Etruscan settlement, then an area contested by both the Bishops of Arezzo and Siena, and was sacked by the Ghibellines in 1315.
The castle hosts the famous White Truffle Market each November. Among the agricultural products of the area, the white truffle is prized throughout Italy, as are the excellent wines, oil, savoury cheeses and honey. In this upper part of the village there is also a restaurant. The Romanesque church of San Giovanni Battista is near to the castle, while in the lower part of the village lies the most important church in the area, the beautiful San Pietro in Villore, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, and surrounded by cypresses. The picturesque village of Montisi nearby, has its Chiesa dell'Annunziata and the historic grain tower. Here, every year, on the Sunday nearest 5 August (the Festival of the Madonna delle Nevi, the patron saint of Montisi) takes place. This jousting contest is called the Giostra di Simone.
The lower part of San Giovanni d'Asso has a baker and butcher, a supermarket and cafe/bar. There are public tennis courts 8km away at Torrenieri; the famous abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is 7km away; the thermal spa town of San Quirico D'Orcia is 14km away; Montalcino 17km and Pienza 20km. The beautiful mediaeval city of Siena lies some 40km away, and Florence and San Gimignano are within range for day trips. There is no public transport in San Giovanni, and it is essential you have a car. The nearest airports are approximately two and a half hours' drive, at Rome, Florence and Pisa.
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The property's location makes excursions to Siena, Assisi, Orvieto, Perugia, Arezzo and Florence an easy day trip. But the area below Siena, stretching from the monastery of Monte Oliveto to Montalcino and Montepulciano offers some rewarding sites that are well worth a visit too.
In San Quirico d'Orcia make sure you see the Horti Leonini, an early Renaissance garden, as well as the western door in the city wall and the Collegiata (main church). Montalcino is beautifully situated on a hill inhabited since Etruscan times, swathed in vineyards and olive groves. It is a quiet, affluent, attractive town with pretty buildings and flower-filled squares, and many shops selling Brunello di Montalcino wine. Montepulciano is a graceful Tuscan hill town, best known for its Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, one of Italy's better wines. Pienza, the unfinished 'Utopian' city, was commissioned by Pope Pius II in 1459. And check out Chiusi: unpretentious and lively, compared to Montepulciano it is uncontaminated by tourism. Chiusi has a railway station from which it is a quick ride to the city centre of Rome.
Monticchiello is a pleasant walled village, whose crooked watch-tower is visible from afar. Next to the church is a small shop which sells local linens (towels, bedspreads) and materials in pure linen. They use traditional methods and patterns and the results are extremely attractive. Visit the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and the semi-derelict monastery of Sant'Anna in Camprena - a romantic setting which served as location for the film The English Patient. Sant'Antimo is surely one of the loveliest Romanesque buildings in all of Italy. It is hard to imagine a more sympathetic combination of architectural grace and natural setting.
And last but not least, the landscape in this region of Tuscany is spectacular. The Crete Senesi are eroded clay hills in the Orcia valley; these strange, pale, barren slopes, with their bare cliffs, broken gullies and white Jurassic limestone, look more lunar than terrestrial.
