La Casina

Not far from Arezzo are two towns made famous by their most well-known sons, Anghiari and Caprese Michelangelo, where Da Vinci and Michelangelo, respectively, were born. In both of these places you will find museums dedicated to these two great pillars of the Italian Renaissance and they are must-sees for art-lovers who are travelling in Tuscany and want to delve further into the lives and works of two of the most important figures in the history of European art. The Michelangiolesco Museum is an easy outing for those who have found a vacation rental in Arezzo, located within the province of Arezzo and a short distance from the city of Arezzo in Caprese Michelangelo.

While the museum was opened in 1964, to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Michelangelo, it can actually trace its origins all the way back to 1875. The Michelangiolesco Museum is housed inside the Caprese Michelangelo fortress complex, which is made up of three main buildings, the Palazzo del Podestà, Palazzo Clusini and the Corte Alta, as well as a garden that is open to the outdoors. Caprese came under the rule of Florence after the town submitted to the Florentine Republic in 1384 and from that point onwards Florentine podestàs, local magistrates, took turns residing in the town on an annual basis. It is in the residence of these local rulers, the Palazzo del Podestà, that Michelangelo was born on the 6th of March 1475 to Ludovico di Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni, who was the reigning podestà, in the area at the time.

Caprese Michelangelo is a charming village in the province of Arezzo named after the famous Master sculptor of the Renaissance, Michelangelo Buonarotti.

This quiet little part of Tuscany, situated about 100 kilometres east of Florence is home to beautiful old churches, delicious restaurants and a fine museum and library built in honour of its most famous son, Michelangelo.

Stay in a beautiful vacation villa in Caprese Michelangelo where you can base a wonderful holiday of discovery!

Born in 1475, Michelangelo lived here for only a few months before his family moved to Florence city. But many tourists still travel to his birthplace to see the house, and possibly the room where he came into the world!

Caprese Michelangelo is a town located 50km away from Arezzo in Tuscany and owes its name to Michelangelo Buonarroti who was born there in 1475 when his father Ludovico was the town’s authoritative figure. It is situated on the Apennine ridge, in the greenest area of the Tuscan Val Tiberina and the surrounding landscape of this part of Tuscany is particularly beautiful, with numerous rivers and watercourses punctuating the fields of vegetables, fruit and flowers on which Caprese Michelangelo's economy is based.

As the birthplace of that great Renaissance Master, it is obviously a site of pilgrimage for the art-lovers of the world but its great beauty means that anyone in your party will enjoying visiting this charming town. Just find a holiday rental in Caprese Michelangelo and discover this little gem for yourself.

Tuscany is a place full of sleepy and pretty little towns that one could easily pass by without a second glance but which contain rich histories and unexpected surprises. Look more closely and you will be astounded by what you might see if you have found a vacation rental in Tuscany and are exploring the region. One such town, that you could easily miss and think nothing more of, is Pieve Santo Stefano, which is located between Florence and Arezzo and has a population of just over 3,000 people. Pretty and very typically Tuscan in appearance, you would think nothing unusual of it at first glance. However, there is much more to this fascinating town than first meets the eye. Back on August 5th, 1944, a year after Mussolini fell from power and the Nazis took control of Italy, the townspeople of Pieve Santo Stefano were abruptly awoken and marched north on pains of death with whatever they could bring with them while the town was completely destroyed. Bar a church in the centre of town, the rest was rubble. It was rebuilt but, if you look closely, you will see concrete in place of cobblestones and Renaissance gems replaced by modern facades.

Then came Saverio Tutino, a former member of the Italian Resistance and journalist who had explored the globe and found himself in town for an art exhibition in 1984. He had had the idea of instituting a place to house and elevate the stories of normal Italians, something he felt was lacking in the country’s rich story-telling heritage, and thought Pieve Santo Stefano, this town haunted so heavily by the past, a perfect place for a, “House of Memory.” And, so, the town became famous for a different reason as home to the Archivio Diaristico Nazionale, the National Diary Archive, and came to be known as the Città del Diario, the City of Diaries.

Take a day during your Tuscan holiday to visit the spectacular Sorci castle in Anghiari in the province of Arezzo to learn about the legend of the famous mercenary leader, Baldaccio d’Anghiari! Visitors wishing to stay in the Anghiari area for a few days have a wealth of tuscan villas for rent available to rent all year around.

This castle is now a huge lavish hotel restaurant where you can walk around and envisage the stories that weave through its history. Sorci castle, built during the 12th century was also the inspiration for a well known Italian film, ‘Nothing left to do but cry’.

Sorci castle was Baldaccio’s home and he was a brave and strong military leader, greatly respected by the people of Anghiari. But during a gruesome conflict between him and his enemies, he was savagely beheaded in Palazzo Vecchio and his limp corpse was flung from a window onto Piazza Signoria in front of a terrified crowd!