Archive for 'Tourist Attractions'

Take a day during your Tuscan holiday to visit the spectacular Sorci castle in Anghiari in the province of Arezzo to learn about the legend of the famous mercenary leader, Baldaccio d’Anghiari! Visitors wishing to stay in the Anghiari area for a few days have a wealth of tuscan villas for rent available to rent all year around.

This castle is now a huge lavish hotel restaurant where you can walk around and envisage the stories that weave through its history. Sorci castle, built during the 12th century was also the inspiration for a well known Italian film, ‘Nothing left to do but cry’.

Sorci castle was Baldaccio’s home and he was a brave and strong military leader, greatly respected by the people of Anghiari. But during a gruesome conflict between him and his enemies, he was savagely beheaded in Palazzo Vecchio and his limp corpse was flung from a window onto Piazza Signoria in front of a terrified crowd!

Come and learn about the eerie legend of the ghost of Bettino Ricasoli who’s said to haunt the castle of Brolio to this day! Tourists wishing to stay for a few days have plenty of luxury holiday villas in the Chianti region in the province of Siena where the castle stands in its centre.

Visitors will learn all about the history associated with this glorious fortress. It belonged to the powerful Ricasoli family since 1141 and was inherited by Bettino Ricasoli in the 19th century. He was born in 1809 and went on to become a man of great importance and power in the Chianti region.

His stern nature and greed earned him the title of ‘The Iron Baron’ and the farmers who worked on his land were terrified of him. He forbade anyone from greeting him with small talk as he regarded this as a sheer waste of his time.

Why not take a day to visit the intriguing Roman farm remains called Villa del Virginio in the province of Florence that dates back to the 1st century BC?

Discovered in the 1980’s by a team of local archaeologists, this well preserved structure offers tourists a rare glimpse back into Roman times as they walk around what was once the home of a very wealthy family that ran a huge farming business.

Visitors wishing to stay in this area to explore it for a few days have a fine choice of luxury villas in the nearby town of Montelupo.

Explore the extensive 3,000 square metre area that existed at the meeting point between the Virginio and Pesa rivers. Back in Roman times, this was the ideal spot for building a farming villa as it was close to water which workers would regularly carry and water the crops with under the burning Tuscan sun. History records detail the great importance this area was in terms of agricultural production for all of Tuscany!

If you are planning to holiday in the Volterra area of Tuscany then you have the chance to learn all about the legendary and gruesome trial of a woman called Elena di Travale who was accused of witchcraft and subjected to horrific torture in June 1423! Thousands of women suffered the brutal repercussions of being accused of witchcraft by a then paranoid European population who believed anything out of the norm was the work of the devil and his co-conspirators!

There is a great selection of fantastic holiday villas with pool nearby Volterra where you can stay and learn all about this intriguing legend and experience all the delights the area has to offer!

Elena came from the small medieval village of Travale in the Val di Cecina where a great deal of geothermal activity takes place. Thick vapour gases are often seen rising in the air through cracks in the earth because of the volcanic activity going on beneath the tectonic plate here. But back then, people feared it was the work of witches who gathered in the area to practice dark magic.

If you wish to enjoy a day trip of discovery during your holiday to Tuscany, why not visit the famous Villa Demidoff in Pratolino, just north of Florence city. Visitors wishing to stay here for a few days have a wonderful selection of stylish holiday rentals both within and just outside Florence. The legends that lie within these walls are numerous but most famous is that of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco de’Medici who once lived here.

He was appointed to this title in 1574 and was despised by the people because of his introversion and reluctance to communicate with them. He was the opposite of his father who was a great public speaker.