At that time it was an adventure to travel those 80 miles. The roads were traps, unsafe and infested with brigands, such as the infamous Ghino di Tacco, who, laying in wait close to Radicofani, a high rock situated on the border between Tuscany and Lazio and from which there is a spectacular view of the Val d’Orcia and of all of the Crete, did not balk at kidnapping and holding hostage cardinals and bishops who were on their way from Rome to take the waters at the hot pools of Bagno Vignoni.

Together with those of Rapolano, San Casciano dei Bagni and many other small springs scattered throughout the Crete, Bagni San Filippo and Bagno Vignoni are part of the vast system of thermal waters, including Saturnia and Petriolo in Maremma, that surrounds the base of the dormant vulcano, Monte Amiata.

But it would be misleading to paint the Crete as a desert of clay and sulphurous water. Founded by the Sienese Republic of which this vast territory was part, on the hilltops in fact stand beautiful medieval villages like Montalcino, home to Brunello, perhaps the most famous Italian wine in the world; Pienza, a small jewel of Renaissance town-planning, designed by Rossellino on commission from Pio II, the pope who belonged to the noble Sienese Piccolomini family, and who established his summer residence there; and then there are Montepulciano and San Quirico; castles like Ripa d’Orcia and Gargonza, still standing after many centuries; abbeys like Monte Oliveto Maggiore, an important monastery founded by San Benedetto in the fourteenth century, in the cloister of which one can admire the perfectly preserved frescos by Signorelli and by Sodoma, which narrate the life of the Saint The monastery is still inhabited by a substantial community of monks whose ethereal and refined Gregorian chants echo in the church at the time of Vespers.

Quite different decibels are produced by the deafening roar of the motors of the vintage cars, old Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Porsches, and Mercedes, that every year in the month of May, dart along the tortuous roads of the Crete. This suggestive procession of old racing cars is a reenactment of the Mille Miglia, the Thousand Miles, once the craziest road rally in the history of cars, in which competed pilots like Nuvolari, Ascari, Fangio. The cars, which leave from Rome, travel through Radicofani to Pienza, San Quirico, to then continue along the old Cassia road, arriving in Siena and Florence, and finally reaching Brescia after having crossed the Appennine Mountain Range. A sight not to be missed, a further reason for visiting in spring this area, which is, to my mind, together with Maremma, the most beautiful part of Tuscany. For anyone who prefers decidedly slower rhythms, the bicycle is the perfect means for moving about the gentle hills of the Crete. But be warned! Get fit first, there are also a number of very steep climbs!