Tuscany · Arezzo
Lucignano
A walled elliptical hill town between Siena and Arezzo, planned in medieval concentric rings around the goldsmith's reliquary called the Tree of Life.
Known for
ALBERO D'ORO
Gothic goldsmith's reliquary in the Museo Civico, 260 cm tall, called the Tree of Love by tradition and considered a marriage charm.
ELLIPTICAL PLAN
Four concentric rings of streets inside the medieval walls, one of the most complete elliptical hill-town plans surviving in Tuscany.
CONTESTED
Continuously fought over by Siena, Arezzo, Florence and Perugia between 1200 and 1500, walls and gates rebuilt by Siena in 1371.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Why come
Lucignano sits on a hill in the Valdichiana, halfway between Siena and Arezzo, built on a tight elliptical plan of four concentric rings of streets. Its position made it one of the most contested settlements of medieval Toscana: Siena, Arezzo, Florence and Perugia all fought over it between 1200 and 1500. The current walls and three gates date to a Sienese reconstruction of 1371.
In the Museo Civico inside the Palazzo Comunale stands the Albero d'Oro, a 260-centimeter Gothic gold-and-coral reliquary in the shape of a tree, begun by Ugolino di Vieri in 1350 and finished by Gabriello d'Antonio in 1471. Local tradition turned it into the Albero dell'Amore, a marriage charm. The Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo dominates the highest ring of the borgo, and the elliptical plan is best read from the air, which is why drone footage of Lucignano keeps appearing in articles about medieval Tuscan urbanism.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Lucignano’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Albero d'Oro
260-cm Gothic reliquary in the shape of a tree, gold, coral and enamel, begun by Ugolino di Vieri in 1350 and completed by Gabriello d'Antonio in 1471.
Centro storico ellittico
Four concentric rings of streets inside elliptical walls, the most complete example of medieval Tuscan elliptical town planning.
Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo
Eighteenth-century church on the highest ring of the borgo, with a Vasari façade adjustment and a baroque organ inside the medieval shell.
Palazzo Comunale
Thirteenth-century town hall, seat of the Museo Civico, holding the Albero d'Oro reliquary and a fresco cycle by the school of Bartolo di Fredi.
Fortezza Medicea
Sixteenth-century Medici bastion at the eastern edge of the walls, built after Cosimo I took the Valdichiana, used today as a public terrace.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 3,383
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Bologna, 2 h 9 min drive
- Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 9 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 400 m
- Population: 3,383
- Surface area: 44.81 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
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