Type: archaeological and historical-cultural
Approximate distance: 59 km
A route that intertwines ancient history and hilly landscape, made for those who love to view the territory as a book where every chapter has a different yet coherent plot. It starts from Radicofani with its dominant posture over the landscape, heading towards Sarteano and Cetona, stone villages where walls, towers, and streets recount centuries of rural economy, strategic control, and ways of inhabiting the hill.
🏺 Cetona Natural Archaeological Park: inhabiting the hills over time
The Cetona Natural Archaeological Park reconstructs the relationship between man and environment over a very long time span, from prehistory to the Etruscan age. It is not a simple excavation site, but a system of places immersed in nature that tell how ancient communities inhabited, exploited, and crossed the territory.
The park includes caves frequented since the Paleolithic, such as the Grotta Lattaia, rock settlements, and traces of occupation from the Bronze and Etruscan Ages. The routes allow one to read on the ground the settlement choices, the use of natural resources, the relationship between water, shelters, connection routes, and daily activities. A direct and concrete way to understand that the current landscape is the result of a millenary continuous habitation.
♨️ San Casciano dei Bagni: the rediscovered sanctuary of sacred waters
In San Casciano dei Bagni, water has always been central to the life of the territory. The thermal springs, used since the Etruscan and Roman eras, gave rise to a large sanctuary complex brought to light in recent years, featuring a monumental basin and extraordinary bronze votive deposits.
The sanctuary tells of a place of healing, worship, and meeting, frequented for centuries by different populations, who entrusted offerings and statues to the waters as a gesture of request and thanks. A dedicated exhibition space can now be visited in the historic center, which introduces the history of the excavations and the finds, pending the opening of the permanent museum and the thermal archaeological park. A fundamental step to understanding the role of the thermal baths not only as a natural resource, but as a sacred and social place in the long history of these hills.
🍝 Celle sul Rigo and the local culture
Leaving the thermal area, the itinerary continues towards Celle sul Rigo, a small village where gastronomic tradition is an element of identity, with dishes like hand-made pici (pasta) and products linked to the surrounding land and woods. Here the Tuscan countryside is seen in its most concrete form, among olive groves, vineyards, and small farms.
Why choose it
This itinerary is ideal for those who want to read the territory in its historical depth, following the traces of human settlement from prehistoric times up to the Roman and medieval worlds. Fortified villages, archaeology immersed in nature, and recent great discoveries alternate with a rural landscape that preserves an ancient balance between man and environment.
The passage from the Cetona Natural Archaeological Park to the thermal sanctuary of San Casciano dei Bagni allows one to understand how caves, hills, and waters have been used for millennia as places of life, worship, and care. The route ends in a more daily and convivial way, with Celle sul Rigo, where the gastronomic tradition restores the concrete and lived side of these hills.
An itinerary recommended for those who love archaeology, hilly landscapes, and material culture, and want to alternate places of great historical importance with authentic stops linked to the cuisine and rural life of the territory.
