What are the Crete Senesi?

The bare clay-hill country south-east of Siena, the most cinematic single landscape in Tuscany, smooth grey-blue ridges without vines or cypresses. It is about light and emptiness rather than wine or towns.

Is the Crete Senesi worth a whole week?

For photographers, painters and guests who want genuine quiet, yes. For most others it works best as the calmer half of a two-week trip paired with Chianti or the Val d'Orcia.

When is the Crete Senesi most photogenic?

May and June for the green of the winter wheat; September and October for the gold and the truffle season. The light is strongest at dawn and in the last hour before dusk.

Can you arrange a truffle hunt?

Yes, with professional hunters and their dogs in the fields around San Giovanni d'Asso, where the white-truffle season runs from October and peaks with the November fair.

How far is the Crete from Siena?

About twenty-five minutes from the northern edge. The Val d'Orcia begins roughly fifteen minutes to the south, so both are easy day trips.

Is the Crete Senesi good for young families?

Less so than Chianti or the coast. It rewards quiet and stillness more than activity, and suits couples, photographers and small parties better than restless children.

Exclusive Tuscany

Est. MMXXV

TuscanySub-region

Crete Senesi, Tuscany.

1 villa in the collection

On Crete Senesi

Field notes,
from the founders.

Crete Senesi is the bare clay-hill country east and south-east of Siena that produces the most cinematic single landscape in Tuscany. The earth itself is the point: pale grey-blue clay, often without topsoil, eroded into the smooth folds and conical ridges that make the place look painted. Without vines and without the cypresses of the Val d'Orcia, the land here is harder, lonelier and entirely about light.

Travellers who come specifically to the Crete are usually photographers, painters, or people who have spent a previous week in Chianti and want a quieter rhythm. The towns are small, the restaurants are local rather than starred and the population per square kilometre is among the lowest in central Italy. This is the Tuscany of Andrei Tarkovsky's Nostalghia, much of which was filmed in and around Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

Photography, and the Light

The Crete is the most photographed empty landscape in Tuscany, and the light is the reason. Without vines or the cypresses of the Val d'Orcia, the land is pure form: pale grey-blue clay folded into smooth ridges, a single farmhouse, a lone track. Dawn and the last hour before dusk are when the folds throw their longest shadows; the winter-wheat green of May and the bare gold of August are two entirely different pictures of the same hills. This is the Tuscany of Tarkovsky's Nostalghia, much of it filmed around Monte Oliveto Maggiore, and guests who come specifically for the Crete are usually here to shoot it.

Dairy, Pecorino and Truffles

The dairy economy is serious here. Pecorino di Pienza comes from these hills, and the Working Farm villas in the collection let guests into the cheese rooms at six in the morning during the summer flock cycle. Truffles are the other draw: San Giovanni d'Asso runs an annual white-truffle fair in November, and the surrounding fields are worked by professional hunters with their dogs from October onward, an outing we arrange for guests who want it.

Pairing the Crete with Siena and the Val d'Orcia

The Crete makes an excellent quiet half of a two-week itinerary. Siena is twenty-five minutes from its northern edge; the Val d'Orcia begins fifteen minutes south. A week here pairs naturally with day trips to either, and several of our Crete villas have the road access that makes both feasible on the same day.

When to come

May and June for the greenest version of the landscape, when winter wheat colours the slopes. September and October for the gold, and for truffle and harvest season. July and August are dry and severe, the look is dramatic but the heat is real.

Towns worth knowing

Asciano: The market town; Sienese-Gothic art in the Palazzo Corboli.
San Giovanni d'Asso: White-truffle capital; the November fair is worth planning around.
Monteroni d'Arbia: Stop here for the Romanesque pieve at Cuna.
Buonconvento: Medieval-walled, on the road south; small but intact.
Trequanda: Higher up; one good osteria, one Romanesque church, nothing else.

Best for

Photography and painting weeks
Truffle hunts and dairy visits
Quiet writing or work trips
Pairing as a quieter half of a two-week itinerary

Frequently asked

What are the Crete Senesi?: The bare clay-hill country south-east of Siena, the most cinematic single landscape in Tuscany, smooth grey-blue ridges without vines or cypresses. It is about light and emptiness rather than wine or towns.
Is the Crete Senesi worth a whole week?: For photographers, painters and guests who want genuine quiet, yes. For most others it works best as the calmer half of a two-week trip paired with Chianti or the Val d'Orcia.
When is the Crete Senesi most photogenic?: May and June for the green of the winter wheat; September and October for the gold and the truffle season. The light is strongest at dawn and in the last hour before dusk.
Can you arrange a truffle hunt?: Yes, with professional hunters and their dogs in the fields around San Giovanni d'Asso, where the white-truffle season runs from October and peaks with the November fair.
How far is the Crete from Siena?: About twenty-five minutes from the northern edge. The Val d'Orcia begins roughly fifteen minutes to the south, so both are easy day trips.
Is the Crete Senesi good for young families?: Less so than Chianti or the coast. It rewards quiet and stillness more than activity, and suits couples, photographers and small parties better than restless children.