Highlights and shadows of Tuscany, page 3
Monte Oliveto Maggiore and Saint Galgano

Many excellent wines are produced around here, famous all over the world, from the red wines of Montepulciano and Montalcino to the whites like the vernaccia of San Gimignano. But the virgin olive oils too are no less rich in the scents and flavors, produced with pride in the surrounding fields and united under the important denomination "Tuscan olive oil". Many of the farmhouses included in our tours of the countryside play a fundamental part in its production and it constitutes an integral part of their cuisine.

From Montepulciano we reach Pienza , an architectural pearl mounted between two hills desired by Pope Piccolomini and constructed according to his very detailed plans. Pienza too is known not only for its astounding architecture but for the flavors of its ewe's milk cottage cheese in its many different types (red, black or aged under nut leaves) and the salamis made of wild boar's meat also play their part in rounding out the panorama of the wines and foods of Tuscany.

Our tour concludes as we enter the historical and artistic heart of Tuscany consisting not only of the famous artistic cities of Siena and Florence but also of isolated abbeys and cathedrals, the sign of a land rooted in Christianity. From Pienza, we proceed to the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore , one of the most important Tuscan cultural and religious centers. The silence that envelops it communicates the profound faith and devotion of the monks who still live there today following the Benedictine rule. Walking through cloisters covered with frescoes, standing at the door to the refectory, and strolling along the nearby pathways, it is impossible not to think of the beauty-so splendid and essential-with which the monks sought to surround themselves as the centuries passed.

Passing a wooded area, we find the Abbey of Saint Galgano, which rises up solitary in the green countryside. As we enter the Abbey, which is now missing its roof, we seem to come closer to heaven. And it is beautiful to stay here, glancing over the overturned columns and imagine the glory of the time when it was constructed by men capable of great works like this. Above the Abbey, we find the uncrossed rotunda, where legend and history meet: this is where the saint's sword stands in a rock. According to the legend, Galgano , having given up arms, inserted it there to adore it as a cross.

The sun is setting behind the rose window of the Abbey. We move away from this place with this beauty in our hearts and a desire to return.

Until we meet again!

Daniel

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