Overview
Tuscany is famous all over the world for its sciapo bread, Chianti, ribollita, gorgia, but also for its landscapes dotted with cypresses. Introduced by the Etruscans who cultivated them for ornamental purposes and for the use of wood, these evergreen conifers with a tapered silhouette are the most photographed subjects at kilometer 189 of the Via Cassia.
Park your car on the roadside and give yourself a shot to frame against the backdrop of the lonely cypress hill of San Quirico. They are clearly visible on both sides of the road but it is better to reach them by proceeding in the direction of San Quirico instead of towards Montalcino, so as not to have to cross the avenue on foot.
Also a source of inspiration for an artist of the caliber of Vincent Van Gogh who loved cypresses for their symbolism linked to the afterlife, the grove of the Val d 'Orcia would not fit into a canvas of the Dutch painter who so many times used his brushstrokes to depict these trees set between earth and sky.
