Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
flocks here after a day on the beach to meander its narrow cobbled streets and steep
cream-stone stairways brightened with flower balconies and windowsills. A steep climb
up to its crowning glory, the 15th- to 16th-century
rocca
(castle), abandoned in the 1600s
and slowly being restored, rewards with a magnificent panorama of surrounding fields and
olive groves. On dusky pink summer evenings it is particularly soul-soaring.
Another lovely stroll from main street Via Matteoti, uphill along Via del Crocifisso,
brings you to all that remains of the 13th-century Convento di San Francesco: its beautiful
red-brick
Chiostro di San Francesco
, used today as a stunning stage for summer concerts,
theatre performances and cultural events. Each year in mid-July during Suvereto's annual
Serate Medioevali
(Medieval Evenings), the Romanesque cloister is transformed into a me-
dieval marketplace complete with locals dressed in traditional medieval costume, a medi-
eval banquet, and euro coins being traded for medieval coinage to spend at the many art,
craft and food stalls. Should you have the desire to marry your loved one Tuscan
medieval-style, this - really! - is the occasion.
Given the accolades of 'Slow Food town', 'wine town' and 'oil town' that it bears,
Suvereto is a predictably wonderful place to discover local
Val di Cornia DOC wines
and
dine well. The
tourist office
(Via Matteotti 42)
has information on where to taste and buy.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
BELVEDERE
'Belvedere'
in Italian means 'viewpoint' or 'panorama', and that is precisely what the hilltop hamlet
of
Belvedere
proffers to anyone who drives this far. Hidden on the top of a hill 3km from Suvereto,
the hamlet, 280m above sea level, was created in the mid-16th century as an airy escape for rich folk
from the malaria-infested plain. Its central square, unpaved, is the most enchanting - and intimate -
you're ever likely to encounter in Tuscany (it's rather like brazenly peeking without scruple into the
back gardens of every surrounding ginger-stone house). Belvedere's insider address is Belvedere di
Suvereto (
Click here
).
Sleeping & Eating
B&B
€
Belvedere di Suvereto
( 328 7158104, 05 6582 7061;
www.belvederedisuvereto.it
; Piazza San Tommaso 33, Belvedere; s/d/tr/q
€58/90/120/140)
In nearby Belvedere, this stylish B&B and bistro has fresh white rooms,
