Set in the golden hills of the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage region, the walled town of San Quirico d'Orcia preserves a fine Romanesque Collegiata with richly carved portals, a classic pilgrim halt on the Via Francigena. Just below lies Bagno Vignoni, unique in Italy for having a great stone pool of steaming thermal water in place of a village square. Pilgrims and travellers, including St Catherine of Siena, have bathed in these warm sulphurous springs for centuries.
Highlights
- Bagno Vignoni's steaming thermal pool in place of a village square
- St Catherine of Siena brought to the hot springs as a girl in the 1360s
- The Romanesque Collegiata with richly carved portals and a timbro
- Warm water spilling towards the old mills below the village
- Travertine terraces laid down by the Monte Amiata geothermal springs
At a glance
| Period | Medieval (Romanesque church 12th century; baths Roman onward) |
|---|---|
| Stage | 18 — Châlons-en-Champagne to Coole |
Take care
- Bathe only where permitted — the historic basin is off-limits
- Slippery surfaces around the thermal channels
History
A parish church stood at San Quirico by the 8th century, rebuilt in the 12th as the present Collegiata, and in 1155 Frederick Barbarossa received the Pope's envoys here on his way to be crowned in Rome. The town later passed under Sienese, then Medici rule, and in 1677 Cosimo III granted it as a marquisate to Cardinal Flavio Chigi, whose family built Palazzo Chigi on the square. At Bagno Vignoni the Salimbeni ran the medieval spa, whose waters drew Pope Pius II and Lorenzo de' Medici in the 15th century.
Myth & legend
St Catherine of Siena was brought to Bagno Vignoni as a girl in the 1360s, her mother hoping the hot springs would tempt her from a life of prayer; tradition says Catherine turned even the scalding pool into a penance. The loggia above the great basin bears her name, and Lorenzo the Magnificent later took these waters too.
Geology
Bagno Vignoni's steaming pool is geothermal plumbing made visible: rainwater sinks deep along faults, is heated in the volcanic roots of nearby Monte Amiata, and rises again charged with dissolved carbonate and carbon dioxide. As the water cools it precipitates travertine, the pale banded limestone that terraces the hillside below the pool and crops out across the Orcia valley.
Wildlife & nature
The Horti Leonini are laid out in clipped box and pruned holm oak, with a small ilex wood on the upper terrace and roses below. In the valley, warm sulphurous water lays down ochre travertine crusts above the Orcia, and the surrounding clay hills flower with poppies, wild gladiolus and broom in May before the June harvest.
The view
Cypress avenues and clay ridges of the Val d'Orcia frame San Quirico's honey-stone Collegiata, while Bagno Vignoni's steaming pool-square mirrors the sky at dusk.
Photography
Dawn mist in the valley makes the classic Val d'Orcia images; at Bagno Vignoni, shoot the steaming pool early or at dusk when reflections and low light combine.
When to visit
May and June bring green hills and poppies, September and October golden light and the grape harvest; July and August are fiercely hot on these shadeless clay ridges.
Getting there
Walkers cross the Val d'Orcia stage to reach San Quirico; regional buses along the Cassia link Siena and the villages, with the nearest railway at Buonconvento.
Where to stay
Parish and pilgrim lodgings in San Quirico take the credential, while agriturismi and small hotels, including spa stays at Bagno Vignoni, dot the surrounding hills.
Food & water
Fountains in San Quirico and bars in both villages cover refills; the thermal water is not for drinking, and the open valley walking demands full bottles from the start.
Safety
Bathe only where permitted — the historic basin in the square is off-limits — and mind slippery surfaces around the thermal channels. In an emergency dial 112.
Accessibility
San Quirico's main street and the Collegiata forecourt are gently sloped and mostly step-free; Bagno Vignoni's square is level, though paths below the village are rough.
Visitor tips
Stamp your credential at the Collegiata, walk the Leonini gardens, then descend to Bagno Vignoni and cool your feet where warm water spills towards the old mills below.
The guide, in full
The written guide to this site.
The Val d'Orcia has been showing off all morning: clay ridges combed into curves, cypress avenues running up to farmhouses, the whole golden landscape that Sienese painters put behind their Madonnas long before anyone called it a World Heritage region. And then a small walled town rises ahead of you on its rise of ground, and you are in San Quirico d'Orcia, one of the classic halts on this road. Go straight to the Collegiata. Its honey-coloured Romanesque front carries portals of astonishing richness, columns resting on weathered lions, knotted shafts, carvings of beasts and interlace crowding the arch. A parish church stood here by the seven hundreds and the present building went up in the eleven hundreds, and its doorways were made to impress travellers exactly like you. In eleven fifty-five Frederick Barbarossa received the Pope's envoys in this town on his way south to be crowned emperor in Rome, so the flagstones have seen their share of consequential conversation. San Quirico later passed under Siena and then the Medici, and in sixteen seventy-seven Cosimo the Third granted it as a marquisate to Cardinal Flavio Chigi, whose family built the palace on the square. Behind the town wall, step into the Horti Leonini: a formal garden of clipped box and pruned holm oak laid out in geometry against the wild landscape outside, with roses below and a small ilex wood on the upper terrace. It is a cool, ordered, generous place to sit with your boots off, and it has been offering that service to travellers for more than four centuries. Get your credential stamped at the Collegiata before you move on, because the descent from here is short and it leads somewhere genuinely strange. Bagno Vignoni is a hamlet with no village square. In place of one there is a great stone basin, perhaps fifty metres long, filled with steaming greenish thermal water that has been rising here since before Rome. Mist drifts across it in the early morning. Buildings stand round the rim as though at any ordinary piazza, and along one side runs the loggia named for Saint Catherine of Siena, who was brought here as a girl in the thirteen sixties by a mother hoping the hot springs and the smart company might tempt her away from a life of prayer. Tradition says Catherine turned even the scalding water into a penance, and went home more determined than ever. The Salimbeni family ran the spa in the Middle Ages, and later guests included Pope Pius the Second and Lorenzo de' Medici, who both took these waters. What you are looking at is geothermal plumbing made visible. Rainwater sinks deep along faults, is heated in the volcanic roots of Monte Amiata nearby, and comes back up charged with dissolved carbonate and carbon dioxide. As it cools it drops that mineral load as travertine, the pale banded limestone that terraces the hillside below the village in ochre crusts and crops out all along the Orcia valley. Follow the outflow down and you find the old mills, where the warm water was put to work before it ran away to the river. Do not swim in the historic basin; it is off-limits, and the surfaces around the channels are slippery. But you may cool your feet where the warm water spills down towards the mills, which is the better ritual anyway. Then look back up at the ridges, poppies and broom in May, bare gold by June, and set off south. Rome is getting closer with every one of these hills. Walk gently.
Common questions
How old is San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni?
San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni dates from the Medieval (Romanesque church 12th century; baths Roman onward) period.
How do I get to San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni?
Walkers cross the Val d'Orcia stage to reach San Quirico; regional buses along the Cassia link Siena and the villages, with the nearest railway at Buonconvento.
Is San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni accessible?
San Quirico's main street and the Collegiata forecourt are gently sloped and mostly step-free; Bagno Vignoni's square is level, though paths below the village are rough.
When is the best time to visit San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni?
May and June bring green hills and poppies, September and October golden light and the grape harvest; July and August are fiercely hot on these shadeless clay ridges.
Is there food and water at San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni?
Fountains in San Quirico and bars in both villages cover refills; the thermal water is not for drinking, and the open valley walking demands full bottles from the start.
Where can I stay near San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni?
Parish and pilgrim lodgings in San Quirico take the credential, while agriturismi and small hotels, including spa stays at Bagno Vignoni, dot the surrounding hills.
What should I know before visiting San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni?
Stamp your credential at the Collegiata, walk the Leonini gardens, then descend to Bagno Vignoni and cool your feet where warm water spills towards the old mills below.
Is San Quirico d'Orcia & Bagno Vignoni safe to visit?
Bathe only where permitted — the historic basin in the square is off-limits — and mind slippery surfaces around the thermal channels. In an emergency dial 112.
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