Vinci: In the Footsteps of Leonardo, Between Village and Hills
On a hill of the Montalbano, among vineyards and olive groves, sits a small medieval village with a name known all over the world: Vinci. It was here, in the nearby hamlet of Anchiano, that Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 — the natural son of Ser Piero da Vinci and a woman named Caterina. The village has turned the memory of its genius into an experience to be lived, between one of the most important museums in the world, the birthplace house set among olive trees, and a landscape that has remained, in many places, exactly what he himself observed and drew as a boy. It is one of the most beautiful and meaningful day trips in the area.
The Leonardiano Museum
The heart of the visit is the Museo Leonardiano, opened in 1953 and housed mainly in the Castello dei Conti Guidi, the elongated fortress that dominates the village. It holds one of the largest collections dedicated to Leonardo the scientist, engineer and inventor: models of his machines — flying, hydraulic, construction and war machines — reconstructed from the drawings in his codices, with digital and interactive displays explaining how they work. From the top of the tower, up its steps, a magnificent panorama opens over the Montalbano hills and the Arno valley. In the village, the Biblioteca Leonardiana preserves reproductions of all his manuscripts.
The Birthplace House at Anchiano
About three kilometres from the centre, among ancient olive trees, you reach Anchiano: the farmhouse where, by a tradition rooted over centuries, Leonardo was born. It is the most intimate part of the route. Inside, a life-size hologram gives voice to an elderly Leonardo who, from his final home at Amboise in France, turns his gaze back to these lands and recounts the years of his childhood. Beside it, his earliest known drawing is projected — a landscape from 1473 — and, looking out of the window, you realise that landscape is still there, almost unchanged. Anchiano can be reached by car, by shuttle, or on foot along the "Strada Verde," an old three-kilometre path linking the village to the house.
The Village and the Montalbano
Vinci is worth a walk for its own sake: the climbing lanes, the Piazza dei Guidi redesigned by the artist Mimmo Paladino, the church of Santa Croce where Leonardo was baptised. And then there is the Montalbano, the range of hills between the provinces of Florence and Pistoia that frames it all: a land of Chianti wine and fine extra-virgin olive oil, perfect for a food-and-wine stop or a walk among the rows of vines. It is the same landscape that unfolds, on the other side, all the way to the hills of Pistoia.
Practical Information
The Museo Leonardiano is open daily; hours run, broadly, from 9:30 to 19:00 in the warmer months, with reduced hours in winter — it is best to check the official website before you go, as with the Anchiano house, which keeps slightly different hours. The ticket is combined and covers both the museum and the birthplace house, with reductions for families, young people and groups; it can be bought online. A free app accompanies the visit to the machines and the house. Allow a good half-day, more if you want to add the walk along the Strada Verde.
Getting There from Villa Agnolaccio
Vinci is about 40 minutes by car from Villa Agnolaccio: you drop down towards the Valdinievole and climb back up the Montalbano side to the village. It is a hill road, among vines and olives, pleasant in itself.
Villa Agnolaccio: The Ideal Base for Leonardo's Homeland
Vinci and Villa Agnolaccio share the same landscape: the Montalbano hills that Leonardo saw extend, in effect, all the way to the hills of Pistoia where the villa stands. Visiting his places and then returning in the evening to a period residence with a garden, among olive trees, has a certain fittingness to it.
The ideal plan is a slow one: the museum and the village in the morning, a lunch of Montalbano produce, an afternoon at Anchiano or on a path among the vines, and back to the villa as the light softens over the hills.
And it makes an excellent base for exploring further: Florence and Lucca are an hour away, Collodi and the spas of the Valdinievole closer still. A genius on one side, all of Tuscany around.
→ Book your stay at Villa Agnolaccio and set off in the footsteps of Leonardo.