Invitation to Tuscany Ltd

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Invitation to Tuscany Ltd

Invitation to Tuscany Ltd A long established and well respected agency, with a wide selection of hand-picked and personally inspected villas and apartments in Tuscany and Beyond.

Discover Exceptional Villas in Beautiful Places, for the Discerning Traveller

15/03/2025

Explore Orvieto, an Umbrian delight north of Rome. Built on the top of a high tufa outcrop, it has an amazing double-helix well dug at great expense to prepare the city to be the Pope's stronghold - but he never used it. Today it's a city worth discovering, with a wonderful Duomo, a great museum and some excellent restaurants.

14/03/2025

New photos for the beautiful Palazzo Giustiniani, a stone palace in the Salento region of Puglia, the end of Italy's heel stretching towards Greece. A light touch restoration has made this historic building into an elegant place to stay, with airy rooms and a private pool in the internal stone courtyards.

I was last there at the end of 2023 and hope to make it back there this spring, it's a very special place.

13/03/2025

This is my sister and me getting a lift in an APE, the workhorse of Italian farmers. With a two-stroke engine, plenty of space for load-carrying and still light enough to be lifted out of trouble on the rough country roads, it was a ubiquitous vehicle.

12/03/2025

Pools come in all shapes and sizes but it's always a delight to have one in your holiday home.

Photos:
1 & 2 - Palazzo Giustiniani in the Salento region of Puglia
3 - Dorica, near Siracusa
4 - Palazzo Castello in Chianti
5 - The giant pool in Borgo Rinnovato, south of Florence
6 - The Val d'Orcia from the pool of Casa del Pastore
7 - Views towards the sea from Villa Fobbia
8 - Evening light over the Merse valley from Pipistrelli, near Siena

11/03/2025

It's brutal, it's medieval and it's popular. Florence's Calcio Storico is a sport from the past, something the locals would do to keep themselves busy when they weren't fighting battles, and it often leaves the participants with similar scars and fewer working limbs than before the match.

Played in Piazza Santa Croce, in the centre of Florence, tickets are only available a few weeks before the matches in June, to ensure that locals have first dibs.

These images aren't min but I couldn't find the credits, if they're yours DM me for removal or crediting.

10/03/2025

We're leaving Tuscany and going to Rome today. This is the Theatre of Marcellus, a project started by Julius Caesar and completed (after Caesar's murder) by Augustus, in 12 BC. It fell into disrepair in the 4th century and was even, like many imposing stone structures, used as a quarry for cut stone.

I sketched the Theatre during my time as a Rome Scholar at the British School, and it's a magical building, you can feel the vibrations of the thousands of lives and experiences echoing through the stones. I sat on the remains of the Mura Serviane, the walls that once protected the Capitol hill, as cars sped by on the road below, and passers-by peered over my shoulder to comment on the quality of my work.

I sketched the Theatre during my time as a Rome Scholar at the British School, and it's a magical building, you can feel the vibrations of the thousands of lives and experiences echoing through the stones. I sat on the remains of the Mura Serviane, the walls that once protected the Capitol hill, as cars sped by on the road below, and passers by peered over my shoulder to comment on the quality of my work.

06/03/2025

1975: A picnic at Leoncelli, a tiny fortified church up the road from our house. Valeria and Sally are delightedly chatting about something, just in front of the red sign that said "Danger! Unsafe building, do not come close!"

On the right is "Zi'Galli", Valeria's great-uncle who had fought in the war and, when it ended, found himself in France - it was never clear quite where. He just gathered his things and walked home, sleeping in hedges and foraging for food.

05/03/2025

When you just can't leave them behind... (and who could, with faces like these?)

Find the perfect spot for ALL the family in our selection of pet-friendly villas.

Most photos are of dogs we know, but nº 6 is by Joe Caione, nº 7 by James Haworth and nº 8 by Ave Calvar, all on Unsplash.

https://www.invitationtotuscany.com/our-villas/villa-types/pet-friendly-villas

03/03/2025

My sketch of Simone Martini's masterful fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, a famous "condottiero" who fought for Siena in the fourteenth-century. In 1328 he moved against the territories of Pisa and the Aldobrandeschi family, marching south-west into the Maremma. This painting, a fresco you can see in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, shows Guidoriccio in front of Montemassi - the fortified village on the left. I had sketched in a note asking if the fort to the right might be Roccatederighi, but somebody better informed than me (I forget who, but most likely Emiliano from Pieve di Caminino) tells me it is more likely to be the encampment of Castruccio Castracani, the man defending Montemassi. His name loosely translates as "Castrater the dog castrater", so I'm guessing not a pleasant chap. Castruccio was no match for Guidoriccio who ousted him after a seven-months-long siege. If you ever stay in one of the beautiful apartments in Pieve di Caminino, this is roughly the view you'll see, leading me to think that Guidoriccio may well have commandeered this old fortified church as his headquarters, but it's all just speculation.

02/03/2025

Wandering around Tuscany. It’s the little moments that make the memories.

27/02/2025

Billy the Kid and me, 1975. Billy was a great explorer and very curious so we became great friends. He was also very friendly with Antella, our first horse, a lovely full-figured Haflinger. Billy would hop onto a large conglomerate rock near the house and bleat. Antella would go and stand by the rock so that Billy could jump on his back and then they'd go for walks together.

25/02/2025

Ape 50 - the perfect vehicle, and with the same load-capacity as a Ford F-150 😎

24/02/2025

It's sometimes difficult to capture what you want with a drawing, and I never felt this sketch of the shaded pergola at Casa Allioni quite managed it. But I still remember the warmth of the day, the sound of the crickets and that wonderful summer smell of dry grass, heat and bricks baked by weeks of sunshine. If only there was a way to capture it so you could feel it too.

22/02/2025

There's so much to see in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany. A few of my favourites: the antiques fair in Arezzo, the striking town of Cortona, the fabulous pregnant Madonna by Piero della Francesca in Monterchi, the concentric lines of houses in Lucignano, the mill village of Loro Ciuffenna, the Jousting festival in Arezzo and, last but not least, Peposo, a pepper-rich beef stew typical of the region.

21/02/2025

I love this villa! A recent addition, it has a great modern vibe. It has an enormous polished-plaster curved fireplace hanging down into the sunken seating area, an underground den with a billiards room, darts board and füssball table, and a kidney-shaped pool. The soundtrack has to be Henry Mancini, Doris Day and Tony Bennett, lying by the pool with an extravagant cocktail.

20% early bookers discount between 21 and 28 February.

Villa Ema is on the east side of the Arno valley, between Florence and Arezzo, has fabulous views and, as an additional sweetener, a bijou restaurant just a short walk away. Sleeps 8-10.

20/02/2025

The horse was either Antella or Bunji, and the guy (Mattia? Matteo?) holding her had brought a cowboy saddle for me to try - I loved it. The front pommel, designed for cowboys to loop the lasso round when herding cows, also made the saddle feel safer than a British one. As I was often the smallest person my mother could find to put on any horses she was breaking in, and had more than my fair share of unhappy horses trying to buck me off, I really liked the idea of something extra to hold on to!

17/02/2025

The church of San Michele in Foro, Lucca. A few years ago I cycled from Canterbury to Rome along the Francigena pilgrimage route, following the list of place names the Archbishop Sigeric listed in the account of his travels to Rome in 994 AD. I was struck by how many buildings I saw wouldn't have existed when Sigeric went past, with many built in the 12th century.

While San Michele in Foro did not look like this in 994 AD, a church called "ad foro" was recorded on this site in 795, built on the site of the city's Roman forum. The current church was built in 1070, so less than a hundred years after Sigeric visited the city and a bare 20 years after the death in Lucca of the pilgrim saint, San Divino Armeno, an Armenian who embarked on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome, reaching Lucca in 1050 along the same Via Francigena walked by Sigeric. He died on June 3, 1050, and is still buried in the church.

The amazing facade was built in the thirteenth century, and is what drew me to sit down and sketch this amazing church; every column is different and every statue has a personality of its own.

15/02/2025

Exploring Florence is delightful but I always think it is best done from a base in the countryside.

Dive into the artistic and architectural delights of the Renaissance city, cast an eye over the myriad tourist offerings, and then retire to your country villa to relax by the pool and discuss the high points of your day in Florence.

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The Canaloni del Farma, a great spot for wild-swimming in the hills of the Maremma.

Tuscan Villa for 12 on a Chianti wine estate, with a private pool and AC. Made for relaxing.

Ape 50 - the perfect vehicle, and with the same load-capacity as a Ford F-150 😎 #ape #apelegend #casole

Memories of Casa del Pastore, long-reaching views over the Val d'Orcia, sun-blessed meals under the shaded pergola, aperitivi watching sunsets from the outside sofas, watching shadows lengthen over the villa. The light from this spot in the Val d'Orcia is amazing. Some of the beautiful photos are by the talented Clarice Elliott #valdorcia #pienza #tuscany #villa

Driving towards Montestigliano is always a wonderful feeling! #invitationtotuscany #montestigliano #tuscany #siena #tuscany

I wondered into this church and found somebody practicing on the organ - it was quite bizarre. #organmusic #tuscany #church

The walk from Rinnovato to the village goes over a tiny bridge called “Hannibal’s Bridge” (that’s the Carthaginian General, not the cannibal) and through fields and woods - it took my about 15 minutes and there’s ice cream at the end! https://www.invitationtotuscany.com/villas/italy/tuscany/arezzo/portico #icecream #walk #tuscany #invitationtotuscany #luxuryvillas #walktovillage

I went exploring around Villa di Mezzo and found this old aqueduct. Wasn’t brave enough to walk out on that tiled surface!#invitationtotuscany #summer2025 #livorno #explorepage

Chianina Cattle on a walk near Siena

If we say that a villa is within walking distance of a village I like to test the walk. This is the longer but more panoramic walk from Borgo Rinnovato into the nearby village, crossing a tiny bridge called “Ponte di Annibale”. I rewarded myself with an ice cream at the Circolino 😊 https://www.invitationtotuscany.com/our-villas/villa-estates/borgo-rinnovato #explore #tuscanyitaly #walks #invitationtotuscany

When you walk into a church and they’re testing the organ…

Walking from Pinolo up to Casole d’Elsa - such a beautiful old track! #nature #walking #happiness #casoledelsa #healthylifestyle #paninotonnoecapperi https://www.invitationtotuscany.com/villas/italy/tuscany/siena/pinolo

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