Discovering the medicinal herbs in Val d'Orcia

Interesting initiative combining a beautiful walk in Valdorcia 

with learning about local wild herbs and their use in medicine

On Sunday August 20th

The meeting point is in Bagno Vignoni 

in front of the Herbalist's shop at 10AM. 

The event is free of charge. 

Info and reservation to info@hortusmirabilis.it

The good century of Sienese art

The good century of Sienese art is one of the more important cultural initiative of 2017.
It finally introduces the idea of a "widespread" exhibition not limited to a museum but rather part of an itinerary among three beautiful towns considered gems of art and architecture: Montepulciano, Pienza and San Quirico.

Madonna with baby Jesus and Saint Leonard e Sebastian
painted by Bartolomeo Neroni called "Il Riccio"
Palazzo Chigi in San Quirico

From the exhibition website: "The idea of this original exhibition came about in order to rectify such a severe shortcoming. The towns of Montepulciano, San Quirico d’Orcia and Pienza are each going to host a section of the exhibition dedicated to an important artist from the area and to his environment, inspired by a masterpiece already present in the towns. Each sector also envisages an itinerary to discover other works as significant as those on display but which, for various reasons, have remained in their original locations. This solution enables the ideal completion of the visit with the added value of travelling around and discovering a splendid and magnificently preserved land. All the works on show come from prestigious public and private collections, churches and other religious institutions, the aim being to offer visitors as thorough a vision as possible of a great century which has been unjustly forgotten."

From 18 March to 30 June from Monday to Sunday 1030h to 1830h (Tuesday closed)
The entrance ticket for the three locations costs 12 euro.

Montepulciano, Pienza and San Quirico are the three location where the exhibition is located

Further info on the official website:

https://ilbuonsecolodellapitturasenese.wordpress.com/the-good-century-of-sienese-art/

Mobility in Montepulciano

Montepulciano is a small town but given its geography its quite hard to climb its steep streets.
Luckily there is a service of public transportation supplied by a small bus nicknamed "Pollicino"
These orange buses run loops around the town and its suburbs and are especially handy to lift you up from the lower parts of the town to the top of the hill.

how the bus Pollicino looks like

There are several stops along the main streets which take the name from major places.
Here the maps of all stops

You can by the hourly ticket at the price of 1,10 EUR from local shops (i.e bar) and online trough this website: http://www.tiemme.tpl.busweb.it/urbano
You need to sign up first so you can easily pay online anytime you need a ticket and receive it on your email. You need either to print it or carry the electronic format on your device (phone, ipad etc).
Unfortunately the website is only in Italian but you can see the below picture how to set the website to buy a single ticket (valid for 60 min)

You can also buy a daily ticket (select BIGLIETTO GIORNALIERO) or a montly ticket (select ABBONAMENTO MENSILE). At the present is not possible to get weekly or weekend ticket.