What is Rapolano Terme known for?

Calcium-sulphur-bicarbonate springs at 38 degrees, two historic facilities, in business since the eighteenth century. Mined at Serre di Rapolano since the 1500s, supplied the Tempio di San Biagio at Montepulciano and the façade of the Pienza Duomo. Giuseppe Garibaldi recovered at the Terme Antica Querciolaia from the wounds sustained in the 1862 battle at Aspromonte.

Where is Rapolano Terme?

Rapolano Terme is a comune in the province of Siena, Tuscany region of Italy, about 79 kilometers from Perugia.

Tuscany · Siena

Rapolano Terme

A Sienese thermal town in the Crete Senesi, 38-degree calcium-sulphur waters and travertine quarries that supplied the Pienza Duomo and Montepulciano's San Biagio.

79 km / 49 mi

Nearest hub (Perugia)

5,072

Population

All year

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Rapolano Terme sitson the eastern edge of the Crete Senesi, twenty kilometers east of Siena. The comune was called simply Rapolano until 1949, when the spa industry pushed the name change. Two thermal facilities draw water at 38 degrees from calcium-sulphur-bicarbonate springs: the Terme Antica Querciolaia, in business since the eighteenth century, where Giuseppe Garibaldi treated his Aspromonte wounds in 1862, and the Terme San Giovanni, set among the clay hills of the Crete south of the centro. The other industry is travertine. The Serre di Rapolano frazione, three kilometers south, sits on travertine deposits mined since the 1500s; the same stone clad the Tempio di San Biagio at Montepulciano and the façade of the Pienza Duomo. The medieval centro storico holds a fortified perimeter, a Sienese-period Castello on the highest point, and the Pieve di Sant'Andrea inside the walls. The Crete Senesi spread north and west, the gold-and-clay hills that pull most of the visitors past the spa.

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Gallery

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Known for

Terme Antica Querciolaia
Eighteenth-century thermal facility with six outdoor pools at 38 degrees, where Giuseppe Garibaldi recovered after the Aspromonte battle in 1862.
Terme San Giovanni
Thermal complex south of the centro among the clay hills of the Crete Senesi, with outdoor pools facing vineyards and olive groves.
Cave di travertino di Serre
Active quarries in the Serre di Rapolano frazione three kilometers south, supplying travertine since the sixteenth century, including the Pienza Duomo façade.
Castello di Rapolano
Sienese-period fortress on the highest point of the centro storico, ruined but visible, anchoring the medieval perimeter walls.
Pieve di Sant'Andrea
Parish church inside the medieval walls of Rapolano, founded in the eleventh century, with later interventions through the Sienese centuries.
Crete Senesi
Clay-hill landscape north and west of the comune, with the cypress lines and isolated farmhouses that define the visual postcard of inland Toscana.

When to visit

Best months · All year

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Thermal towns work year-round and Rapolano is the rare Sienese commune where winter is a season. The pools at Antica Querciolaia and San Giovanni stay open through the cold months and the steam off the 38-degree water against the December clay hills is the postcard the spa industry sells. April through June and September into October are the wider best months, with the Crete Senesi at full color and the surrounding wine and olive harvests pulling traffic through the centro. July and August are hot inland; the outdoor pools fill by mid-morning and the thermal pleasure shifts to evening. February brings the Carnevale di Rapolano, one of the older costumed celebrations in the Sienese province.