Travelling by e-bike through the villages of Valdichiana

The Sentiero della Bonifica (Path of Reclamation) between Arezzo and Lake Chiusi allows you to discover a unique region and charming hamlets, such as Lucignano

It’s no coincidence that Lucignano, in the province of Arezzo, is a hamlet with a double recognition: The orange flag of the Touring Club Italiano since 2005, and since last January, one of “Italy’s most beautiful villages”. In short, a village with a high quality of life, and environmental and gastronomical excellence. It was here, among other locations, that the director Mario Monicelli shot “The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal” with Marcello Mastroianni. We are in the Aretine Valdichiana, a valley of alluvial origin in central Italy which extends into the Province of Siena, still in Tuscany, extending as far as Perugia and Terni, in Umbria. The mayor of this gem of a village, at an altitude of 400 metres, welcomes us in the council chamber at the highest point of the town (after showing us the Golden Tree in the Municipal Museum: a reliquary measuring 2.6 metres in gilded brass which originates from the Church of Saint Francis) with its traditional medieval town planning, with its concentric rings, as if it is folding in on itself. “We are focusing on high-quality tourism, respecting the folklore and the produce of the area - Roberta Casini is beginning her second term, ending in 2024 - which is expanding from the perspective of hospitality and employment. There are already 65 family-run hospitality facilities, from holiday homes to B&Bs,

but the urban development plan also forecasts two hotels”. One with 50 rooms by the Russian owner of Diakont S.r.L., a precision engineering company which will move here from Arezzo in the spring of 2021: 3000 square metres for hospitality and 1500 residences: additionally, we will have about 10 apartments and a small events centre with a swimming pool from the renovation of a 19th century building in the old town in 2021”. Tourism and economic development hand in hand; this is how to repopulate and promote a village.