A Sunday in the Crete Senesi Between Artist Gardens And Benedictine Monasteries

Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore

The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is a splendid monastic complex, as well as a treasure trove of art treasures, located in Asciano, in the heart of the Crete Senesi. Silence reigns here. The Great Cloister, the true heart of the Abbey, is famous for the impressive cycle of frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, known as il Sodoma, which completely cover it. Our guide will lead us to the discovery of this majestic Benedictine monastery.

A few kilometers from the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and from the Baths of Rapolano, there is the "Bosco della Ragnaia", a wood-garden, a contemporary work, created by the American artist Sheppard Craige. In 2015 the Bosco della Ragnaia was among the finalists at the European Garden Award in the Innovative Contemporary Concept or Design of a Park or Garden category. We will walk among the endless lanes to discover wood creatures and inscriptions, which are there, waiting to be noticed, some family members, others enigmatic, others still fruit of the capricious sense of the artist himself.