The Orcia Valley is featured by an alternation of hilly reliefs and is marked by the medieval roadtrack of Cassia way that passes through the main centres of San Quirico, Castiglione, Radicofani, Pienza and Montepulciano.
Thanks to the presence of the long road that linked Rome to the northern Italy and Alps and called Francigena.
The inhabitants valley increased their number around 10th and 11th century,
the eve when feudalism became strong and brought lands to organization in a set of castles and fortresses.
The frequent passage of men and goods along that way did so that some of the inhabited centres became particularly important as per the transition throughout Valdichiana.
Thus it is clear that the control over that valley was particularly interesting for the Republic of Siena.
The expansion of Siena throughout Valdichiana is supposed to be stopped in 15th century and the eve announces a different setting of ways in urban centres.
The Republic built up the bridge over Orcia river between Bagno Vignoni and Rocca d'Orcia; it moved the track of roman way by the Paglia valley-  where it wound thorugh originally - directed to Radicofani that would have granted the control oover the valley by its Fortress and provided all the centres of the Valley with new fortifications. After the first half of 1500, as Orcia Valley entered the florentine orbit along with the Siena dominations, it preserves a value only as an agricultural area; during the works in progress for reclamation of Valdichiana the net of roads from San Quirico to Pienza, Montepulciano and Chiusi would have had a main role. A role that has been confirmed by the recent growth of  Chianciano Terme.
  
Local Food and wine.
In Orcia Valley the tradition of "good and sane eating" is intact yet and you can find Restaurant and Hostarias that cook still in the way of old housewives.
They are simple meals, even though they are not so easy to be prepared: all the ingredients (few at a time) are respectfully matched so never to put down every single element's taste.
For example the famous steak to be really cooked in "Florentine Style" must be 5 or 6 cm thick and preserved at medium temperature before cooking. The Oil mus be don by olives and Tuscan extra virgin .It must be added as raw and at the end of cooking. The charcoal must be by oak and juniper wood and must get a "ashes" white colour and must not produce flame anymore.
In Orcia Valley youccan find nice specialities and above all the "Brunello" from Montalcino wine, one of the most important Italian red wines, that comes form the vine Brunello (Sangiovese Grosso), red garnet colour and dry taste.
Even the pecorino cheese il prelibate, produced by Sardinian sheperds who came to live there and who produce it by the same procedure used ever since Middle Age, excellent in any of its maturation phases, from fresh to seasoned and this last is to be served at the end of meal or as a snack.
The Raviggiolo is the tender cheese preserved in fern leaves.
Besides of pecorino cheese, the ham, the tasty crusts with chicken liver or spleen minced, the pansanto (bread slice dressed with boiled cabbage, vinegar and olive oil), the “bruschetta” with grilled bread over flame with just pressed olive oil and a clove of garlic passed over, the panzanella (dried bread and wet, dressed with tomato, olive oil, onion, cucumber, salad, basil and other aromas).
You are forced to taste the Pici, a kind of hand made spaghetti, dressed with meat sauce.

The pici once were prepared by farmers who couldn't afford meat or other noble meals.
The ingredients are: white flour a little egg, tepid water, olive oil, salt and bran flour, the mix must not be so melted then you lay it, you cut it in thin stripes and these are rolled by your hand palm and are passed in bran flour.
Five minutes cooking are enough and thus they can be dressed by meat sauce or garlic sauce "Aglione" or with "briciole" that is with breadcrumbs.
With Pici you are suggested to match red Wine from Montepulciano or a Montalcino Red wine that is good even for appetizers of crusts witl spleen and with Siena salami.
About first meals you have to take account of pappardelle pasta with hare meat, an ancient dish of Etruscan Origin, The "bread soup", a symbol of Siena cooking archive, that is a soup of vegetables that is "boiled twice" and eventually the spelt soup.
Roasted meat or mix of roasts and porcino mushrooms (Pore) on the charcoal and the middle meals: this is a never missing, tasty second dish of any respectable lunch, with duck, chicken, guinea-hen or meat of pork, lamb, porchetta, turkey, sausage, rabbit, cow meat. pigeon and various game meat.
All that is matched with ciaccia (a salted pie with olive oil) - or fragrant bread, without salt not to offend other flavours.
You can continue with cantucci, almond biscuits, to merge in vinsanto produced locally, the castagnaccio , the crogetti for Carnival eve.

A season cake for november feasts is the Dead men pie, done with flour, fat lard of pork, raisins and walnuts, that can be bought in the bakeries of this concerning land...