The visit of Montevachi (Ar) starts from the urban plan of the historical center made in the shape of almond or melted, very original for the medieval villages of Tuscany, generally built according to the classical scheme of the Roman castrum as the new Florentine lands.
To be clearer, just search for Montevarchi on Google Earth and here it is as you see it in the picture.
In the late Middle Ages the village was protected by imposing walls, of which there are only traces for a short stretch visible from Via Gorizia.
The main sights of the historic center of Montevarchi are:
1. The two squares: Piazza Vachi and Piazza Vittorio Veneto,
2. Via dei musei: composed of via Isidoro del Lungo and via Poggio Bracciolini. Here there is the Museum of Sacred Art, the Palaeontological Museum and the Museum of the Cassero, as well as numerous antique shops.
3. Via Roma: the main street of the village with historic shops and stately homes.
But let's go into detail:
Piazza Varchi
It is the main square of the village overlooked by the Collegiate Church of San Lorenzo with its bell tower. Splendid church rich in decorations, something quite unusual for the churches of Valdarno all very essential as for example the Romanesque churches of Setteponti. In the high altar is the Chapel with the relic of the Holy Milk preserved in a precious chalice of 1270. Also worth seeing is the beautiful loggia of the town hall.
Piazza Vittorio Veneto
Once it was the seat of the market, today, after careful restoration is greatly transformed. Here there is the tower of Cassero with inside an important museum of contemporary sculpture.
The Cassero Museum
Dedicated to Italian sculpture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with a collection of about 500 pieces in bronze, marble, terracotta and plaster.
The Palaeontological Museum
Among other things, there are about 2600 animal and plant fossils as well as the skeleton of a mammoth with the giant tusks still intact. Access to the museum is from the beautiful cloister of Cennano of 1471.
The Museum of Sacred Art
It is located next to the Collegiate Church of San Lorenzo with many ancient liturgical objects and a small temple by Andrea della Robbia in glazed terracotta.