Castelluccio

It should be a pretty straight shot from Pienza to La Foce (see the blog post from October 2013).  The trouble is, the straight shot goes over miles of strada biancha (gravel road), not suitable on the skinny-tire bikes Carol and Roger have.  

So, instead, we’ve always had to take the long route.  As a result, 

we had never made it to Castelluccio…on that dirt road between Monticchiello and La Foce.

On the road up to La Foce, we could see Castelluccio sitting on top of the hill…but out of reach.  Until today.

Understand, the hill up to La Foce is 4-½ km and steep enough to be rated as a Cat 3 climb in professional bicycle racing.

So, look who made it all the way to the top!  Not bad for somebody who five months ago was still using a walker after three months in a wheelchair. 

The gravel road from La Foce to Castelluccio was just short of a kilometer.

Was it worth the walk?

Hard to tell from a distance.  All we could see was scaffolding for the reconstruction of the original walls.

Castelluccio was first built in 1320 by a landowner from Monticchiello…Pienza’s closest neighbor.  It later ended up in the hands of an order of nuns and served as the administrative headquarters for the farms they owned.

Inside, it looked like a typical renaissance village…a outer courtyard surrounding the heart of the castle.

…and the inner courtyard, a graceful set of stone and plaster buildings with arched entrances.

 Even the old arrowslits, no longer needed for defense, were put to good use.