CASTELLO DI VELONA

Among the hills of Siena, in the heart of Val d’Orcia Natural Park, the Tuscan tradition is defined by history and nature, by art and flavour.
This is where it lives, constructed as a medieval fortress in the year 1000 and reborn in patrician grace during the Renaissance as the Castello di Velona - Tuscan Resort & Spa.
The tower still guards via Clodia, the road that connected Etruria to Roma during the 1st Century.
Montalcino is just up the road. Streets are filled with unforgettable history, tradition and flavours.

A luxury castle in the heart of Renaissance Tuscany: an open window on history’s landscape. The castle was a medieval fortress built in the 11th Century and the oldest part still in existence is the 12th Century watchtower, which was the scene of clashes between the republics of Siena and Florence. The main loggia is from the high Renaissance, an era during which the castle was converted into a residential villa. During the same era, the Castle was depicted in the maps painted on frescoes by Ignazio Danti in the Vatican. Records of this are kept in the castle’s library. The rear was built in later times according to neo-medieval design. A courtyard open to artistic itineraries.

The road that skirts the foot of the castle is marked on ancient maps under the name of via Clodia [Claudian way], the old Roman road from the first century B.C. that joined southern Etruria to Rome. Also present nearby are stretches of the via Francigena, a route travelled by writers, artists, famous bandits and pilgrims who, during the Middle Ages, went to Rome for the Jubilee. Important Etruscan artefacts were found in the area adjacent to the castle; they are now held in Montalcino’s museum.

In 1997, the castle, by then abandoned in ruins, was acquired by private interests that commissioned its restoration, transforming it into a luxury hotel, while preserving the original structure and keeping its character of an ancient country residence.

In 2011, the Castello di Velona – Tuscan Resort & Spa will reopen its doors to the public after an extensive expansion project that has lasted three years, involving a total of 46 rooms and suites, a new restaurant with panoramic terrace and a 1500 square metre thermal spa. It has become a magical and unique place for relaxation and wellbeing, for arts enthusiasts and for connoisseurs of great wines.

Visitors will love the breathtaking Val d'Orcia scenery as they walk from one village to the next and visit places of historical and artistic significance, experiencing sublime emotions: the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, Montalcino, Pienza (built on commission from Pope Pius II Piccolomini, as a model for an “ideal city"), Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Bagno Vignoni and Monte Oliveto.