|
 |
|
Poggio di
Sopra |
Climbing up the small road that leaves the small hamlet above St. Antimo, you find
yourself on a cypress lined lane just before reaching the top of the hill. Here stands the
villa, looking out over rows of vineyards and hill crests marked
with orderly trees and dotted with the occasional castle or farmhouse.
The hillside slopes, dotted with olive trees and traced by rows of vineyards, resemble a
nubby green coverlet thrown over an antique bed.
The Poggio di Sopra complex is located on a superb vantage point, peering out over
two valleys; in one of these we are offered a bird's eye view of the Abazzia di St. Antimo,
in the other we see the Orcia river.
And the breathtaking sights do not end there, for
rising up, right in front of us to the south-east, lies the tall Tuscan landmark of Mt.
Amiata, providing the most compelling view. |
|
 |
|
In fact, the independent entrances to the two apartments, the terraced porch and swimming
pool are all situated on the southwest side of the structure facing Mt. Amiata and
overlooking the Orcia valley. |
|
 |
|
Other outside areas offer a pizza oven and
covered porch with large dining table perched on
the edge of a slope with a spectacular view of St. Antimo.
White roses cover the western
wall of the main structure while right in front of them grow, haphazardly, bushes of the
classical herb quartet of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, interspersed by patches of
geraniums; where these end an olive grove begins. |
|
|
Testimonials
Comments of some of our guests
• Here, hovering just above the crest of the hill, with Mt. Amiata looking on and St. Antimo nestled in
the shadowed valley below, the moon and sun greet each other briefly as they change shifts. The lunar
sphere is just above my left shoulder and the vineyards, while the blazing orange sun is more level
with my right elbow and sinking fast among the olive trees. Never before have I witnessed the chance
meeting of these two characters, the moon smiling down on the golden leaves of the grape vines left
even more gilded by the level rays of the setting sun.
• Moon at my back, I watch the sunset bleed its colors across a valley of multi-layered hill crests.
The incandescent orb paints the outer limits of the sky a champagne-pink, while closer profiles of
the landscape lie still in a dark opaque green which, as the eye wanders off again towards the somehow
feminine folds of the distant valley, becomes a shadowy bruised-blue.
• I cup my hands together to spy the heart of the panoramic prism through an improvised telescope.
Am I gazing far off into atmospheric alchemy or peering into the eye of a peacock plume?
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
| CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE THE FULL GALLERY |
|
|
|
|
