When you look across the Val d’Orcia from Pienza, the skyline is dominated by Monte Amiata.
Monte Amiata is Italy’s second tallest volcano, though unlike its bigger cousin, Mt Etna, it hasn’t erupted for the last 180,000 years.
The summit of Monte Amiata stands at 5,702 feet above sea level. Because of its height, the summit is dotted with microwave towers and other communications equipment.
The mountain affects the weather for the whole region, even altering the taste of Brunello wine depending on its proximity to the vineyard.
The volcano may be dormant, but it’s still cooking away deep below its summit. It feeds the numerous thermal baths in the area…Bagno San Filippo, in this case…and still actively produces Cinnabar, the main ingredient in vermilion pigment.
The lower slopes of the mountain are covered with chestnut and beech forests…beautiful in the dappled sunlight…and the elevation makes it cool enough for hikers to beat the 90 degree temperatures down in the valley.
Farther up the mountain, we saw mushroom hunters searching for the first porcini of the year.
The path up to the summit is not technical, but it is fairly steep and a good way to work up a sweat on a Summer’s day.
The upper reaches of the road to the summit are lined with these black and yellow poles. They guide the snow plows as they clear the roads and measure the depth of the snow.
The snowfall record, set 8 years ago, is 14 feet.
We saw three chair lifts for ski runs near the summit. While Pienza rarely gets snow, apparently Monte Amiata, at 1200 meters higher elevation, gets plenty.
Looking east from the summit, you can easily see Lake Trasimeno, 34 miles away.
At the very top of the mountain, we saw this….
How did this get here?
Well…at the end of the 19th Century, Pope Leone XIII decided to put giant crosses atop Italy’s twenty tallest mountains. This one was #9 (Monte Amiata being Italy’s 9th highest peak). Think of what it took to get all that wrought iron up to the top of this mountain!
