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The Green Route
The coutryside surrounding Vinci andthe House in Anchiano are undoubtedly the first great source of inspiration foryoung Leonardo. The wooded slopes of Montalbano which, today like then, transform first into olive groves and then into vineyards, are unique to thislandscape, background to the childhood of the Genius. To enter this nature means to travel back in timeand to find yourselves in the young artist’s shoes when he first started to empyricallyobserve the nature and its elements, and to follow into his footsteps.

The path begins at the Strada Verde(Green Road), itinerary n. 14, the 2 km path that connects Vinci to Leonardo’shouse.  The itinerary explores thetypical Tuscan countryside, with its distinctive terracing and fields of olivetrees and vineyards, and it retraces an old path, known in the 1800s as ViaBotanica. This same road was usually walked by Giuseppe Garibaldi, leaving the Fattoriadel Ferrale, when he was a guest of Count Masetti in 1867. As noted byhistorian Gustavo Uzielli, the Hero of the Two Worlds used to “wake up at 4 inthe morning, take a cold shower and then, through the Via Botanica, walked toLeonardo’s House in Anchiano to gather some of that great man’s Genius forhimself”.

Today, the Strada Verde is a veryevocative hiking trail for those who want to reach Leonardo’s House and enjoythe beautiful views of Vinci and the Tuscan countryside, and it is walked everyyear by thousands of visitors in search for the origins of the Genius. Alongthis path, halfway between Vinci and Anchiano, you can find a fork leading tothe 1400s pescaia, used for centuries to regulate the water flow for the canalwhich powers the Mulino della Doccia near Vinci. A map of that same Mill is sketched byLeonardo in an early 1500s drawing (Codex Atlanticus, 765r, Milan, BibliotecaAmbrosiana).

 

Information

Path’s lenght: 1800 mt

Type of path: foot, bike

Road surface: dirt road, with somepaved sections

Difficulty: easy, medium declivity

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