DIGITAL INVASION IN MONTALCINO AND PIENZA's MUSEUMS: APRIL/MAY 2014

Share the culture - flyer Invasione Digitale in Montalcino

If you're desperate to take some decent photos in Val d'Orcia's museums (normally a no-go), you better check out the Invasioni Digitali visits this spring. Organized for the first time last year, the 'invasion' of Italy's museums and spreading of their content on every available social media platform has turned into a true grassroots movement. For the 2014 edition hundreds of dates are available all through Italy and Europe (with a few events already happening on other continents).

DIGITAL INVASION IN THE MUSEUMS OF MONTALCINO AND PIENZA

In the province of Siena the program has been put together by the museum angels (voluntary workers) of Siena's museum foundation. Just show up in town and join the digital museum visitors on Wednesday April 30 at 10 am in Montalcino, or on Sunday May 4 at the Palazzo Borgia museum in Pienza (more info on the events on facebook).

Not in the Val d'Orcia? You're still in time to read up about the ideas behind the movement so as to organize your own digital invasion.

SANT'ANTIMO ABBEY - TUSCANY'S ROMANESQUE TREASURE

Sant'Antimo abbey near Montalcino You don't have to be a catholic to remain spellbound by the eternal beauty of the Sant'Antimo abbey. The Tuscan church and monastery can turn a stubborn skeptic into a reborn spiritual. At least for the time of the visit.

SWIMMING, READING AND DINING IN BAGNO VIGNONI

Whilst the sell-out of tourist destination is a well known plague all through Italy, t here exists a tiny town in UNESCO Heritage Val d'Orcia which forgoes made in China souvenirs and just opened a bookshop instead. Bagno Vignoni is one of Tuscany's oldest tourist destinations. In fact the historic spa town has never been anything else than a tourist destination, and the ratio of inhabitants to visitors must always have been at least 1 to 10. Having looked after medieval pilgrims, ailing popes and saints ( St. Catherine of Siena used to live here for a while), Bagno Vignoni isn't tempted at all to put out plastic chairs or pizza takeaways for present day travelers. I used to live close to Bagno Vignoni and have fond memories of chasing my first -born around the town's main square which consists of a steaming hot water pool (a must-see sight for urban architects!). Our healthy mornings were usually finished off with a slice of fudge chocolate c

VAL D'ORCIA: A MAP OF THE UNESCO HERITAGE SITE

About 40 minutes south of Siena and a bit over an hour from the Tuscan coast, Val d'Orcia lies to the east of the Maremma and to the west of Montepulciano and Umbria. The UNESCO world heritage site is made up by the territories of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia (with historic spa town Bagno Vignoni ) , Pienza, Castiglione d'Orcia and Radicofani. The Orcia river crosses two more municipalities (Castel del Piano and my hometown Cinigiano ), where it divides the province of Siena from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany's two southernmost areas) before flowing into the Ombrone river. View VAL D'ORCIA MAP in a larger map

Mapping MONTALCINO

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