Discovering Orciatico: A Hidden Gem in Tuscany

Hello dear friends!

Here I am at the start of this week, to share with you another post, another place that definitely struck me, I really liked it, located in Tuscany. By the way, this week I will probably be exploring these areas again, and I’m also very curious to discover new places.

Today I want to introduce you to Orciatico, a village in the municipality of Lajatico, in the province of Pisa. From what I understand, this is the hometown of Italian actress Sandra Milo, but we’re also not too far from a town that gave birth to another important artist in Italian and global music: Andrea Bocelli.

This small village is about 7 km from Lajatico and approximately 60 km from Pisa, so if you visit the area, in my opinion, you should definitely take a lovely tour here.

During my walk, I was able to visit the Church of San Michele Arcangelo, a church dating back to the 16th century. Like many other churches I’ve shared here, it has been modified over the course of its history.
It’s a beautiful church, not overflowing with works of art, but that’s quite normal because, of course, it has been restored over the years, and as a result, many of the artworks in these beautiful architectural places are often moved to museums to preserve them.

One thing I liked less, though, was the asphalted roads, which probably make this village seem less characteristic, less authentic, and you can notice this in some of the photos I took.

Naturally, during my walk, I hardly encountered anyone. I noticed that many houses are closed and have been uninhabited for a long time, and I think they are mostly used as vacation homes during the summer months.

As I walked, I also came across a fountain, which unfortunately appears to be in a state of neglect. It probably hasn’t been maintained as it should have been. It’s a real shame because it seems like a work of art, and who knows how many years it has lived.

Continuing my walk, I came to the remains of a tower from a castle, which was probably fortified here. I read on a nearby stone that it dates back to 652, which places it in the Lombard era, and I’m sure of this because I studied it at school.

This area seems to be the oldest part of the village, and as you may have noticed, the streets here are paved with stones, which makes these places much more beautiful and authentic, unlike the roads shown in the earlier photos.

Here, truly, a good photographer can capture stunning views. In fact, this is the part of the village I liked the most.

I hope you also liked my photos. We’ll see each other in my next discovery, so stay tuned for my next post. In the meantime, I wish you all a wonderful day!