Accona desert

A place of rare beauty, among “biancane” and “calanchi”

The province of Siena is world-famous for its hills, where you can find picturesque villages and cultivated vineyards. But this area is also home to a place of rare beauty often off the beaten tourist track. We’re talking about the Accona Desert, a desert area known as the Crete Senesi, between the municipalities of Asciano, Buonconvento and Montalcino. In the distant Pliocene epoch, this area was submerged under the Tyrrhenian Sea and the prevailing colour today is linked precisely to the layer of clay that formed between 2.5 and 4.5 million years ago.

Today, visitors to the Accona Desert will find themselves exploring an almost lunar landscape, in which the whitish-coloured earth reliefs, known as “biancane”, alternate with furrows created by water erosion, so-called “calanchi”.

Looking for the best way to visit this unique landscape in Italy? You can discover the origins of this area and admire the most scenic spots, which become all the more spectacular under the sun’s rays, by walking along the recently opened “Le Biancane di Leonina” nature trail.