Find your balance with Tibetan massage

Aldo expresses himself through the Ku Nye massage, a traditional Tibetan massage that was born more than 3900 years ago in the ancient kingdoms of Tibet. A practice belonging to the ancient Tibetan Medical Tradition, the Sowa Rigpa: a system of natural holistic medicine that, over the centuries, has researched and developed forms of therapeutic treatment for our physical and psychological ailments.

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The emporium for dreamers

“VIAnDANTE  – Massimiliano explains – is for explorers, dreamers and the curious who follow a path so as to nourish the body, mind and soul”. We are in the centre of San Quirico d’Orcia, in the middle of the Via Francigena: “We were inspired by the itinerary of Sigeric, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who began the journey in 990 AD and during the journey noted the stages of the route thereby creating the oldest extant record of the Via Francigena”.

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Craftsmen in wood

ART 5 wooden doors and windows meet the highest standards in their field, designed to perfection and made using innovative technologies: «The world of doors and windows – says company vice president Stefano – has evolved a lot and uses technologies that were unthinkable until recently. The materials must be aesthetically pleasing and at the same time perform their function very well: we are always careful to minimize their impact, letting a lot of light and therefore the view of the landscape through».

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Let’s all go to the Bibbio

To get to the «Land of the Wigeons» you have to go up a hill, pass a little church, turn left, bear slightly left again and there’s the restaurant. It has a marvellously panoramic and truly enviable position. Inside we are welcomed by Maria Pia and Marcello, a couple who share both their work and their lives, she’s from Milan and he’s from Lecce. Together they had the idea of transforming a tavern into a modern, clean and welcoming restaurant, where Maria Pia’s cuisine blends perfectly with the artistic decor and the surrounding landscape.

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Sentinel on the summer: Torrita di Siena

Torrita, once called “Turrita”, is first mentioned in a document dated 1037 where it is listed as the property of the Benedictine Abbey of Sant’Antimo near Montalcino.  As a fortified town with a surrounding wall and four towers, it later served as a military outpost for the defense of Siena’s border with neighboring Montepulciano.  Later still, the town held Florentine ambitions at bay until it finally fell to the imperial forces of Charles the First in 1554 and the entire area passed into the Florentine Grand duchy.

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Fonterutoli, a geopolitical balcony over Florence and Siena

Amongst the great variety of temporal and spiritual potentates that dot the history of Italy, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III passed through here (remembered by the Edict of Fonterutoli of 998 which put an end to the territorial conflicts of the dioceses of Siena, Arezzo and Fiesole), then Pope Leo X who left Rome and stopped in Castellina to meet the freshly nominated King of France in 1515; here came the Guelph troops who came down from Florence for the Battle of Montaperti (4 September 1260) and were soundly defeated; an earthquake for the European geopolitical scenario in favour of the Empire and the Republic of Siena. We also remember how Filippo Brunelleschi passed here to remodel the fortresses of Castellina, Staggia and Rencine. We also recall, for various reasons, various famous personalities who were here for work or residence, such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Jacopo della Quercia, Lisa Gherardini and Michelangelo Buonarroti.

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