UNESCO Landscape · Cypress Hill Near San Quirico
I Cipressini di San Quirico
Eleven cypress trees on a rounded hill — the image that defined Tuscany for the world
Just south of San Quirico d'Orcia, near the Via Cassia, a rounded clay hill is crowned by a compact group of cypresses. This spot — usually called "I Cipressini" — has become one of the most recognisable images of the Val d'Orcia. At golden hour the trees stand as a dark silhouette above the fields, and the whole scene explains why this valley became a shorthand for rural Tuscany.
The Trees
A Living Landscape
The cypress group is part of a working agricultural landscape, not a park or built attraction. The rounded clay hill belongs to the same geological family as the nearby Crete Senesi: soft soils, changing crops, and a form that shifts dramatically with the season. Stay on marked paths and do not cross cultivated fields when crops are present.
Photography
Chasing the Perfect Light
The classic shot is from the south-east, looking north-west at the hill with the trees outlined against the sky. In the morning, light falls on the eastern face of the hill; in the evening, the western face glows amber and the trees cast long shadows east. Fog is the greatest gift: when the surrounding valley fills with morning mist and the hilltop emerges like an island above the white, the scene becomes almost hallucinatory. This happens most reliably in October and November, between 7:00 and 9:00 AM. Winter after snow is the other moment — the white hill, the dark trees, the silence.
Practical Information
- Location
- South of San Quirico d'Orcia, near the Via Cassia / SR2 area
- GPS
- 43.0572° N, 11.6062° E (approximate)
- Access
- Use signed public parking or legal pull-offs only; do not enter cultivated fields
- Best Time
- Golden hour (sunrise or sunset); fog in Oct–Nov; snow in winter
- Note
- Private land — stay on the path, do not climb the hill; respect crops
Gallery
