Bagno (“Baths”) Vignoni is one of the most evocative and best-preserved small medieval “borghi” in Tuscany, in Val d’Orcia, among wonderful panoramas made famous by postcards, and world-renowned vineyards. The famous spas were already well-known thermae in Roman times. There is an amazing architectural character to the urban structure of this “borgo”: the old houses, the taverns and building, and the church of San Giovanni Battista all grew together surrounding the original “vasca”, the main thermal pond or basin, so that it is now the proper “piazza”, the village’s main square. Fed by the volcanic soil, waters spring out freely also nearby, so that both in Bagno Vignoni and Bagni (“Baths”) di San Filippo, a few kms away, one can enjoy the so-called “free spa”, and take a bath in the open air, among the Mediterranean trees and bushes. There is a basin carved out of a large wall of limestone rock. The experience of a hot bath there, especially in winter after a snowfall, is truly enchanting and unique.
A few kms away one finds Castiglione d’Orcia, on top of a hill, surrounded by the most beautiful of the Val d’Orcia typical landscape, and dominated by an ancient fortress. One cannot miss at least a whole afternoon here, to appreciate the many attractions of the old “borgo”, that go far beyond the landscape: the gardens, the narrow alleys, the old Romanic Church of Santa Maria Maddalena, built entirely in stone, and the most historically important among the monuments: the great Church of the Santi Stefano e Degna. One has the real feeling of distant times here. And many excursions are possible in the uniquely fascinating and strange landscape of the Val d’Orcia.