Crete Senesi Vacation Rental

Crete Senesi

A striking place where to spend a breathtaking holiday. The experience of spending a vacation in one of the typical Tuscan villas in the Crete Senesi, the ‘Siennese Clays’, is something that people don’t easy forget.
A trip to the Crete Senesi has the relish of a daydream, a voyage of the soul, somewhat like the Grand Tour where you quit your search for destinations and let the places stumble on you. It is to a certain extent like sailing through the lunar earth waves of the Crete accompanied by the breath of the wind and the magic of unpredictable lights.
Rather than by concrete icons, such as piazzas, cathedrals and castles, the curious traveller will be caught up in the scenery of cypresses and winding roads or struck by the aroma of pecorino (sheep milk) cheese pervading a tiny grocery and ultimately overwhelmed by the relaxing stroke of the warm spa waters.
Emotions and sensations transform and expand into space.
And beyond the senses, the mystical simplicity of a small Romanesque parish church. The landscape of the Crete Senesi is a triumph of essentialism and harmony, a place where time has stopped, a picture that blends the line of an Etruscan graffito into a Modern one. The holiday homes in the Crete Senesi totally respect the surrounding landscape: essential, breathtaking, but without precluding modern comforts.
It is the sort of harmony that roots itself inside you giving the power to re-balance your energies.
Nevertheless one must consider a brief but richly rewarding visit to the centre of Asciano and its Church of Sant’Agata (11th century, modified in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries) where the Virgin with Child by Signorelli and Sodoma’s Pietà are worth a detour.
It is also the ideal starting point for a visit to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore (14th century), the most important Siennese monastery complex; in a magnificent position amidst woodland and furrows it features the early Renaissance frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Sodoma.
At Buonconvento the scenery of the Crete Senesi widens and brightens up and the gaze will be drawn up towards the distinct profiles of Montalcino and the broad slopes of the Amiata.
Rapolano is synonymous with spa waters and consequently wellbeing. Here the thermal baths of San Giovanni and the Antica Querciolaia Spa complex are just the right places to treat yourselves.
Neither can San Giovanni d'Asso be overlooked since from the hill, that dominates the valley of the Asso river, the Crete offers all the magic and atmosphere of a land with a special zest. Furthermore the small village is the kingdom of the white truffle, celebrated every November at the traditional Market Exhibition held in its “Borghetto”, the highest part of San Giovanni.