The Farmhouse La Gioconda, Vinci, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

The medieval town of Vinci, situated in between the lands of the Tuscan Rinascimento, is a location you can't miss in your plan. The town lays between the south slopes of the Montalbano hills and Empoli's plain, in a landscape of olive groves and vineyards. Leonardo da Vinci was born here, at Anchiano, on 15 April 1452. His parents were Ser Piero dei Serristori, a well-known fellow of Vinci, then notary in Firenze, and Caterina, a peasant from his family's farm. Leonardo spent his childhood here, then later he moved to Firenze where, in the laboratories of artists and painters, his already enormous desire of all kind of knowledge grew bigger and stronger. Leonardo, as he wrote, wasn't a man of letters, but a pragmatic, a category reserved, at that time, to artists, painters and sculptors. Spending his childhood between those hills marked all his life,

and he marked the territory around as well: his brilliance and his explorations are hidden in every corner of this land. Vinci, already known as the "place of birth of the Genius", today is a destination for tourists and lovers of Leonardo's works. In the old town center there is a modern museum about the works and drawings of the scientist. The museum is situated in the Roccaforte, well conserved as the charming old town. On the north side of Vinci there is Anchiano, with the simple peasant 15th century's house, where Leonardo was born and lived his first years. Around the town there is plenty of architectural and historical evidences, as the "Pieve di San Giusto" (12th century) enriched with white and green marble from Prato's quarries. This town and its territory deserve a visit, just like the "Leccio". a millenarian tree situated in Faltognano, only a few kilometers away from Vinci's center.