Читать книгу Walking in Tuscany. 43 walks including Val d'Orcia, San Gimignano and the Isle of Elba онлайн

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The walk begins and concludes at Artimino’s Porta Turrita

From the information board, take the first path R (E) in gentle descent past a shed. Marked red-and-white n.300, the way is a veritable corridor of tree heather, broom and lavender. Down at a minor road (98m), turn R (SW) along the tarmac to a cenotaph and park, which doubles as a delightful lookout over the River Arno. Continue into the village of Poggio alla Malva (90m) and Piazza Ario Dante Naldi. After a short uphill stretch past a madonna statue, turn L on narrow Via Pineta, flanking the church and bell tower. A short stretch S past fields leads to a hamlet and the Barco Reale gateway (40min).

Standing near the base of a knoll clothed in pine woods, the Barco Reale gateway marks the entrance to what was once a vast hunting reserve adjoining Villa Ferdinanda. Set up by the Medicis in 1626, the reserve was enclosed by a 52km boundary wall.

Retrace your steps but leave Via Pineta very soon at a shrine and proceed N on a stony lane, going gently uphill between vast vineyards backed by Artimino and Villa Ferdinanda. As you reach a road and another shrine, branch L (SW) on unsurfaced Via Poggilarca, which leads to erstwhile Medici farm Poggilarca (122m, 20min). Now abandoned, Poggilarca stands on a marvellously scenic knoll, a perfect picnic spot. As you approach the property, fork R on the white gravel lane below the buildings. This leads N through vineyards. At an orange tank where the lane enters a property, leave the lane for the wide way to its R between rows of vines. Where the vineyards end, walk straight ahead on a rough track past olive trees, to emerge on Via del Palazzone.