Arezzo and environs
Valtiberina
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Valtiberina
Hotels Valtiberina
Restaurants Typical Products Services
Restaurants Typical Products Services
This region, Valtiberina, is characterized by the upper reaches of the Tiber where, from limpid springs, the river starts its journey down the rocky gorges at frenetic speed, slackening in pace only when the steep slopes of the apennines slowly open out into a somewhat narrow plain.The forests and pastureland covering this predominantly mountainous zone once formed the boundary and meeting point of two civilizations, the Etruscan and Umbrian. Traces of these can still be found in several latinized place names such as Sestino and Monterchi, most probably places of worship dedicated respectively to the god Sextius, protector of the woodlands, and Hercules, both present in Italic mythology prior to the Roman expansionist period.
When Michelangelo set about erecting the scaffolding under the vaults in the cupola of St. Peter's he remembered the fir trees he had seen, during his childhood and early youth, growing tall and straight in the mountains surrounding his birthplace. He went back to these forests towering high above the river's source and selected the necessary timber, which the Tiber's stream floated down the river to Rome.
Today, the river has been greatly reduced in size and volume, however its inherent charm has remained intact - at times serene, on other occasions, harsh and inhospitable. Dynamic by nature, something different greets the eye at every step.
At Valtiberina, there is tourist accommodation available in hotels, farm holiday, farmhouse, residence self-catering accommodation, b&b, rooms for rent, holiday homes, camp sites and tourist villages.
