on the Sienese hills , and its historic centre is among the best examples of urban organisation of the municipal age .
Remaining intact in its thirteenthfourteenth century layout , it has been inhabited by the Etruscans , who had chosen it for its dominant position over the valley , since the third century BC . A leg of the Via Francigena and a connection point for the roads that led , and still lead today , to Pisa and Siena , it won independence from the bishop of Volterra in 1200 . Centuries of decline followed , particularly exacerbated by the black plague that decimated its population . Thanks to its isolation and the lack of interest of the surrounding cities , the appearance of the centre enclosed in the walls crystallized . This was until the awakening of interest in its uniqueness and beauty in the early 1900s . The massive American bombings during World War II
destroyed its large tower , and it was only in 1990 that the restoration and renovation work began after UNESCO declared its historic centre a World Heritage Site .
Of the seventy-two houses and tower-houses , 14 remain that we try to capture with the help of our drone .
We enter from Porta San Giovanni and arrive in Piazza della Cisterna , randomly choosing between small and narrow streets . We let ourselves be conquered by the beauty of the flapping arches , pre-modern antiseismic devices , which connect the buildings and the stairways bordered by countless flower boxes . The nearby Piazza del Duomo , besieged by tourists during the beautiful summer days , is almost all to ourselves .
Although we have visited this place dozens of times , we are fascinated by the beauty of the colours that medieval architecture can give us . Culture , art , nature , but we know
TRAVERSE 58