The highest inhabited point you can see from Pienza is the town of Radicofani (pronounced Radi-co-fahn-ee). It’s about 20 km from Pienza as the crow flies but 35 km by car.
The hill seems impossibly high. We find it hard to believe that when we were younger, we rode our bikes to the town…twice.
This time, we got a ride with Seattle friends Rebecca Fox and Bob Heller, who stopped by to visit for a few days.
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| Trying to decide whether to start an antique car collection |
The town has a distinctive look. All the buildings are stone with horizontal stripes of brick.
What makes the town unique, however, is the fortress that towers over everything…atop an impossibly steep hill.
In 1253, the rebels from the losing side in one of several Sienese civil wars, fled Siena and perched upon the highest hill they could find to defend themselves. Over the next few years, they built a fortress as further defense.
The signs in town told us it was a 15 minute walk up to the fortress (La Rocca).
The fortress is almost 800 years old and still standing.
Inside, the pictures tell the story…
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| The cistern to store water in case of seige |
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| Carving over dungeon entrance |
And…as always…the view from the fortress to the valley below wasn’t too bad…
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