Tuscany · Siena
San Casciano dei Bagni
A hilltop borgo at 582 meters above 42 hot springs that produced the largest Etruscan bronze hoard of the last fifty years.
582m
Elevation
64 km / 40 mi
Nearest hub (Perugia)
1,500
Population
All year
Best time to visit
Why come
San Casciano dei Bagni sits at 582 meters at the southern edge of the province of Siena, above 42 hot springs that average 42 degrees Celsius. The baths were used continuously from Etruscan through Roman times and again from the Renaissance, when visitors came from across Europe. In 2022, an excavation that began in 2019 at the ancient sanctuary turned up 24 bronze votive statues protected by mud, with around 6,000 coins in gold, silver and bronze. The find was the largest of its kind in fifty years; most surviving Etruscan votive material is terracotta. The 1,500 residents live on a basalt outcrop above the Roman thermal complex, in a centro storico of stone houses and three small churches. The borgo joined the Borghi più belli network in 2014 and remains one of the smallest communes in Toscana to carry both that label and Bandiera Arancione.
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Gallery
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Known for
Santuario Ritrovato
Etruscan-Roman thermal sanctuary excavated since 2019, where 24 bronze votives and around 6,000 coins were recovered in 2022.
Bagno Grande
The principal natural pool of the 42 hot springs, used from the second century BC through the Renaissance and reopened to the public.
Collegiata di San Leonardo
Romanesque parish church in the centro storico, restored in the seventeenth century, with a baptismal font carved from local travertine.
Centro storico
Stone borgo on a basalt outcrop above the springs, encircled by medieval walls and stitched with stepped alleys.
When to visit
Best months · All year
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The thermal pools make the calendar different here. Winter is the season many visitors prefer, when the 42-degree water steams against cold air and snow occasionally dusts the basalt outcrop. April through June and September into October are the most balanced months: warm hill light, the dry-stone walls of the borgo at their best, the sanctuary excavations open to guided tours. July and August are hot at 582 meters but cooler than the valleys below, and the springs run year-round. The new museum holding the bronzes is scheduled to open in stages from 2026, drawing the kind of attention this commune has not seen since the Renaissance.
How to get there
From Perugia, San Casciano dei Bagni is roughly 64 km by road. Allow about 55–77 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).
Drive time to the nearest gateway airports
- Rome2h 39m
- Ancona / Pescara2h 40m
- Bologna2h 42m
Elevation 582 m
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