The
farmhouse is situated on the hills rising above Arezzo, bright
city with ancient origins in the eastern side of Tuscany. Thanks
to its strategic position at the confluence of the Casentino,
Valdarno, Val di Chiana and Tiber Valley, from Arezzo it is easy
to reach some of the most beautiful cities, country sides and
territories of central Italy (Florence, Siena, Rome, Perugia,
Lucca, Urbino, etc. ..) but also it is easy to reach some delightful
smaller towns like Cortona and Lake Trasimeno, Pienza, Montalcino,
Montepulciano and the Val d 'Orcia, Monte San Savino, Lucignano,
Sansepolcro, Anghiari, Assisi, Todi, Spoleto and then all of Umbria).
Looking at Arezzo from the circle of hills that surrounds it on
each side, gives us the easy chance to imagine the town with the
lapping lake that used to be on the west side of the city at the
time of the Etruscans. And this scenario also lets us understand
how this civilization could developed over the hills starting
from the one on which is now placed his histotical-center.
And then you can so imagine the formation
of the green valley at the foot of the Etruscan Arezzo (Arretium)
which has allowed the town’s expansion, followed by the
need to provide more water to the city from the surrounding hills.
Those places on the east side, the most high ones, were named
in homage to the waters of Poti where they abounded.
On
the south-west along the ancient road that connected Borgo Sansepolcro
and Anghiari to Arezzo, in the ancient farm (called Pomaio by
Pomum the abundance of apples, fruit), it is possible to stay
in a place of peace and with an atmospheres of other times luckly
just a few kilometers from the city center.
The soils of the Farm are grown with organic production and the
area is suited for an high qualità production. The sunny
plots provide grapes to produce Chianti DOCG IGT wine and extra
virgin olive oil with a fruity aroma, intense flavor and a strong
taste among the best tuscan tradition regarding production on
hills.Resuming our journey through the history of this generous
land is easy to imagine that Piero della Francesca, who was born
and died in Sansepolcro, passed frequently from here in mid-1400,
during the years when he painted the Legend of the True Cross
in the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo and slept in the small
and beautiful church of Pomaio that along that road was built
in 1170.
The light on this side of the hill is the same one that Piero
della Francesca reproduced in his paintings and is a beacon light,
diaphanous, transparent and intangible, is yet the light of the
Tuscan hills that turn towards the Mediterranean.
It is among these contrasts of light and shade, inside this atmosphere
that permeates the whole valley and that no one can ignore, that
were born, lived and expressed themselves artists and illustrious
men, whose noble and strong presence is still felt, like Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci, Cisalpino, Petrarca, Guido Monaco, Boccaccio,
Vasari, Signorelli, Cimabue, Piero della Francesca, Spinello Aretino,
Pietro, Bartolomeo della Gatta, Mecenate, Cimabue, Della Robbia,
San Gallo, Sansovino and many, many others.
The
city of Arezzo and its territory are consequently rich of art
pieces, monuments and history, the famous Etruscan Chimera or
the crucifix by Cimabue, the cycle of the Legend of the True Cross
by Piero della Francesca.
But also beautiful squares and museums give their contribute to
make this city a city of art of primary importance.The atmosphere
of the place was also known by S. Francesco, in 1200 his path
passed by here (now the famous trail No. 50) a path that linked
Assisi, Lake Trasimeno, the cells of Cortona, Poti, the Alpe di
Catenaia and Verna, passing just a few hundred meters above Antico
Podere di Pomaio.
And it is the light that enveloped the Etruscans and Romans over
2000 years ago during the construction of the aqueduct that fed
the old city of "Arretium. In the stretch where the aqueduct
crosses the ditch called "Fosse of the Bridge", you
can find as its support a picturesque stone bridge, which still
exists and is easily accessible by foot from Antico Podere di
Pomaio.
From
this territory, as well as the Etruscans and Romans, got their
potable water to lead in Arezzo, both the medieval Vasarian aqueduct
and the Venetian Fonte aqueduct. Via delle Conserve, which is
a continuation of Pomaio’s municipal road on the side of
the town, takes its name precisely from the presence of tanks
which provided the collection and preservation of tap water, the
project was made over the last years of his life by Giorgio Vasari.
With this work, Vasari wanted to crown with a new design a public
fountain in Piazza Grande.
In a land so full of energy took place even some passionate love
stories, like the one between Pompilia and Count Guido Franceschini,
which even inspired a poem.
Centuries ago, coming from a family of farmers in Pomaio, an enterprising
matchmaker called Franceschino, very intelligent man among the
business activity, gave rise to the House of Franceschini, obtaining
glory for himself and his heirs, and obtaining from the 'Emperor
Charles IV, the title of Count Palatino. A descendant, Count Guido
Franceschini, in late 1600 was the protagonist of a tragic love
story of a Roman noblewoman named Pompilia. The Pompilia drama
touched the great English poet Robert Browning (1889) who wrote
the poem " The Ring and the Book ", considered his masterpiece.
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