Vasari tempio santo stefano alla vittoria pozzo della chiana

The Val di Chiana, Valdichiana, or Chiana Valley is an alluvial valley of central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, lying on the territories of the provinces of Arezzo and

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

and the provinces of

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

and

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

Geography

The Val di Chiana is about long, and covers about . It runs north to south between the plain of Arezzo and the plain of Orvieto and includes the watershed of the

Canale Maestro della Chiana Canale may refer to: Places ;Italy * Canale, Piedmont, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cuneo * Canale, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, a ''frazione'' in the Province of Trento * Canale d'Agordo, a ''comune'' in the Province of Belluno, Veneto * Can ...

, its main watercourse, and the northern part of the watershed of the Chiana River. The river Chiana (old name Clanis) since IV sec. BC was large and suitable for boats from Arezzo to the connection with the Tevere river (60 km). After the river floating and up to the XVI sec the bottom part of the valley was cover by the water for hundreds years. There is a map drawn by Leonardo da Vinci about this lake
Map RCIN 912278 Royal Collection
. The beauty of the valley and the excellent farming activity was mentioned by

Pliny the elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

in his Naturalis Historia III, 52-54.

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

few hundreds years later wrote about Valdichiana: «"Fields of such beauty are impossible to find elsewhere; every lump of earth has been tilled to perfection, prepared for sowing. Wheat grows lushly on this soil, where it seems to find all the necessary conditions to thrive. Every other year they plant horsebean, because oat does not flourish here. They also plant lupines, now already green, which will ripen by the month of March. Flax too, is already sown; buried into the ground throughout the winter, it is toughened by the freezing cold. ». Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italian Journey. To the northeast it is bounded by the Tuscan pre-Apennines crowned by the

Alta Sant'Egidio Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

at ,

monte Lignano Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Monte ...

at , and

monte Corneta Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Monte ...

at . To the southeast, it reaches

Lake Trasimeno Lake Trasimeno ( , also ; it, Lago Trasimeno ; la, Trasumennus; ett, Tarśmina), also referred to as Trasimene ( ) or Thrasimene in English, is a lake in the province of Perugia, in the Umbria region of Italy on the border with Tuscany. Th ...

and the valley of the Nestore River. To the west, it extends to the

Val d'Orcia The Val d'Orcia or Valdorcia () is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. Its gentle, cultivated hills are occasionally broken by gullies and by picturesque towns and villages such as Pie ...

, where it reaches its highest elevation at on (

Monte Cetona The Monte Cetona is a mountain located in the southern Tuscany region of Italy. Features The mountain stands near the SE border of the province of Siena, and closes the long, hilly ridge which divides val d'Orcia from val di Chiana. It belon ...

). The landscape is mostly hilly, with a plain around the Canale Maestro della Chiana. Its mean elevation is around .

Products

Valdichiana is near traditional local products such as wines, local wheat variety, olive oil, truffle, fruit, cattle breed and others. The most known local products are: Chianina cattle breed, the original ingredient for the "Bistecca alla Fiorentina" Aglione della Valdichiana. A special local giant garlic with an aromatic and gentle taste. From 2019 is a DOP Vinsanto Valdichiana Toscana DOC Grechetto Valdichiana Toscana DOC

External links

* {{Coord, 43, 15, N, 11, 49, E, source:frwiki_region:IT, display=title Landforms of Tuscany Valleys of Tuscany Valleys of Umbria

Geography

Products

See also

External links