Welcome to Montisi
An enchanting village in the heart of Tuscany
Montisi is a place off the beaten track yet accessible to the best scenery, art and food the region can offer. Montisi is a village where you can be part of a welcoming and vibrant community. Montisi gives you the opportunity to experience traditions and yet find new challenges. A chance to enjoy Italian life, to think, laugh and relax. The perfect location for a vacation in Tuscany.
Montisi village is, at its centre, a medieval wonder. Its narrow streets which have been unchanged for centuries are decorated with flowers and lead to a small stronghold. The fortified grange sits by the town walls looking out over the splendid landscape.
This place however is no sleepy relic. Whilst only four hundred people live here, the town is bursting with energy and enterprise. Unsurprisingly it is known in the area as ‘vivace’ or lively.
You can have an entire Italian experience within our beautiful hilltop village. Everything you need is here, a handful of shops, restaurants, fun, things to do and stunning scenery. It is a perfect place to stay for a holiday in Tuscany and use as a base to enhance those experiences within our lovely district of Montalcino and beyond. It’s up to you!
Ceremony in Montisi
If you love tradition, visit us when our districts, known as Contrade, are celebrating. Much of the life of Montisi centres round these Contrade. Each its own church, a communal kitchen and an office. They plan lavish dinners which take place year round to celebrate local important dates. The rivalry between the Contrade reaches its highest at the superb August festival which is known as the Giostra di Simone. Add to this a visit to Siena for the world famous bareback horserace, the Palio and compare the city festa with the village festa!
Gastronomy in Montisi
If you love food, you will love us and the region. Montisi is blessed with several excellent restaurants and the region is famous for our local pici pasta, wonderful Chianina beef and superb truffles. Montisi is famous for its wonderful olive oil and you can celebrate that too at Montisi’s festival of the new olive oil. Our olive oil festival is held in the autumn every year. Why not come and stay and join us for the olive oil festival and then stay on to celebrate the very special white truffle festival in nearby San Giovanni d’Asso
Wine in Montisi
If you love wine, tour our local vineyards then treat yourself to a trip to Montalcino where you can sample one of Italy’s premier wines – the Brunello. There are other famous wines from nearby too including the Vino Nobile from Montepulciano.
Entertainment in Montisi
If you love entertainment, our little village cinema shows an international film every week. You can sit back and enjoy it with a glass of wine. In the summer, we enjoy concerts from both our world famous harpsichord school and the Bel Canto opera foundation. These are held in our little theatre and in our churches. Don’t forget too we often like to stage street parties with live music and dancing. Other towns close by offer other summer programmes from Jazz to Classical and from Rock to Pop. We shall feature as many of these as we can on our Events page and if you would like more information feel free to contact us.
Nature in Montisi
If you love nature, Montisi is blessed with being between the Crete Senesi with its lunar like landscape and the UNESCO listed Val d’Orcia. This gives you fabulous walking, cycling and photographic opportunities across two very different landscapes, Look too for some elusive wildlife such as porcupines, deer, badgers and wild boar. While you are here you can even enjoy the views of the stunning Tuscan countryside from the heights of a hot air balloon.
Art in Montisi
If you love art and architecture we can show you wonderful sites just a few miles from us. Marvel at the fantastic frescoes at Monte Oliveto in nearby Chiusure and the romanesque church of Sant’Antimo near Montalcino. Or go further afield, take a tour guide and explore the great masterpiece of our region – Siena.
Touring in the beautiful countryside around Montisi
If you love touring, we can offer itineraries for you taking in some of the many famous hilltop towns in Southern Tuscany. Choose from Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Bagno Vignoni and San Quirico d’Orcia. All are within easy reach of Montisi. And for those of you who want to explore further, make time to visit the birth of the renaissance in Florence or even the eternal city itself – Rome.
Whatever you love, Montisi can show you some of the very best. We hope you will enjoy your visit and if there is anything we can do to make your stay even better please email info@montisi-montalcino.com.
Editors Note: Thank you to Walter Coppenrath for the photos and to Liz Cochrane elizabethcochrane.com for the paintings.
