Destination Weddings in Castiglione d'Orcia

Castiglione d’Orcia is an ancient town set high on a hill near mount Amiata, in the middle of the Val d’Orcia, between Pienza and Montalcino.

The river Orcia flows through the valley graced with beautiful landscapes of hills and cypress trees, the quintessential Tuscan landscape admired in paintings, prints, publications and illustrations all over the world.

Located in the south of the province of Siena and close to the Cassia way, in the area of the Crete Senesi (clay hills), here’s is how the famous contemporary Italian poet Mario Luzi, born near Florence from parents coming from the Amiata mountain region, described his land:

La strada tortuosa che da Siena conduce all'Orcia

traverso il mare mosso

di Crete dilavate

che mettono di marzo una peluria verde

è una strada fuori del tempo, una strada aperta

e punta con le sue giravolte al cuore dell'enigma…

Castiglione d’Orcia was first mentioned at the beginning of the eighth century. A possession of the powerful Aldobrandeschi family, in the middle of the thirteenth century the town became a free Municipality, but in the 14th century it fell under the rule of Siena and subsequently of Florence.

The village, dominated by the imposing Rocca degli Aldobrandeschi, keeps its medieval flavor intact. The wedding hall building overlooks the main piazza, paved with river rocks that are divided by bricks to make a geometrical pattern. A fountain made of travertine, dating from the sixteen hundreds, stands in the middle of this picturesque Tuscan piazza named after the painter, sculptor, goldsmith and architect Lorenzo di Pietro, called il Vecchietta, a local artist from the fourteen hundreds.

The Rocca di Tentennano in Rocca d’Orcia, a tiny fraction within the same municipality, can be seen in the near distance facing the Rocca degli Aldobrandeschi and it was the most famous fortification in the area because of its strategic position. Donated to the State of Italy by its last owner, the fortress has been restored and is now open to the public.

The church of the saints Stefano and Degna is a Romanic building with a façade dating from the fifteen hundreds. The priceless works of art by Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti and il Vecchietta have been removed from the church and can be admired in the Montalcino Museum.

Worth a visit is the church of Santa Maria Maddalena, with a Romanic stone façade, dating from the twelve hundreds.

For the orchid enthusiasts it will be interesting to know that in the woods, bushy areas and meadows around Castiglione d’Orcia there are at least fifty of the eighty-six varieties of orchids found in Italy, some of them very rare, blooming from April to June .

You may want to consider having your wedding pictures taken in this unique part of Tuscany, with the backdrop of a medieval fortified town and in the woods, with natural orchids!