Fattoria di Belvedere

About

If you want a splendid holiday, if you want to enjoy the simplicity of peasant life as it once was in a setting created by people who themselves love nature, we have found the place for you: Casentino, one of the most beautiful valleys not only in Tuscany, but in Italy, situated south of Florence and north of Arezzo. This is the birthplace of the Arno, which runs through the valley, embroidering it with meanders, waterfalls and wider stretches where the water seems reluctant to leave it. A lot of Italian history -epic, literary and mystical - has been written in the valley. A handful of names, which nonetheless fill hundreds of pages of the encyclopedias. The great sculptor and painter Michelangelo Buonarroti - noble son of the valley -Paolo Uccello and Giovanni Maria Bibiena; Dante Alighieri who came here first as a young Guelf knight at the battle of Campaldino, then as a wandering exile; Saint Francis, who ascended the mountain of La Verna, where he founded the sanctuary that he loved above all others; Saint Romualdo, founder of the hermitage of Camaldoli, where his sole companions were the sun and the sound of the wind in the trees of surrounding forest. A discerning observer will be able to discover the many Romanesque churches, abbeys and sanctuaries of Casentino, all of which evoke the valley's thousand-year history. Fattoria di Belvedere, agricultural holidays farm, 500 metres above sea level, is immersed in this world of ancient civilization and natural beauty, amid sunflower and wheat fields. It is located at Poppi, at the gateway to the National Park of the Casentino, Mount Falterona and Campigna Forest, in a beautiful panoramic position, overlooking the splendid valley and particularly the famous Castle of the Conti Guidi. The building, an old farmhouse skilfully restructured, is divided into nine two or three- bedroom apartments, all complete with simple but refined period furniture. Each apartment has self-contained heating, a television and separate telephone. The living room has a kitchen area with fridge, dishwasher and air-extractor hood. Each bathroom has a shower booth. We also offer our guests parking a large garden with swimming-pool ( 16 x 8 m. ), Whirpool jacuzzi, bowls pitch, a barbecue a wood fire oven, children park and two common rooms, each with a large stone fireplace. In a reserved zone of our farm you can find a little production of "cinta senese" (a rare breed) pigs living in the forest, then worked in delicious cured pork meats ( Casentino'ham, salami, bacon ...). Moreover extra-virgin olive oil for tasting, season fruits and vegetables no chemically treated. Guests can also hire mountain-bike at the farm. In the immediate vicinity of the holidays farm there is riding-school, offering special terms for riding in the forest of National Park, and a nine-hole golf course; tennis and bowling: In every village in our valley it is still possible to savour the traditional dishes of Casentino cooking