It is here that the Arezzo stretch of the Path of the Reclaimed Land begins. And it is here, too, that the journey into the agricultural soul of the Chiana Valley, sweetly smelling of orchards, starts. The Tuscany known for its wine and extra virgin oil, in this part of the valley, is enriched by the excellent quality production of pears, apples and plums. Cortona, visible from the hills to the east and a fundamental stage of the ‘Etruscan’ journey, does not really lie on the Sentiero della Bonifica; however, if one wishes, it can be reached by a 12 km detour and a tough final climb. Foiano della Chiana, just touched by the cycle path, is the place where the oldest Italian Carnival takes place, dating back to at least 1539. At the 40 km mark, between Foiano and Marciano della Chiana, where the path crosses at right angles the asphalted road, you can take an extremely short detour to the right (east) in order to look at the ‘colmata di Brolio’ [Brolio reclaimed land]. The ‘colmate’ are important hydraulic works which carry out the land reclamation by flooding: the raising of the ground level, in fact, is due to the muddy water’s deposits coming down from the hills and “held back” by special stone enclosures. Brolio’s ‘colmata’ is easy to recognize and is close to the cycle path. On the left, you can also see the Fattoria del Pozzo which once belonged to the ‘Ordine dei Cavalieri di Santo Stefano’ (Order of the Knights of St. Stephen) and was established in 1802, separating it from the Font’a Ronco Estate which was too large to be managed with the attention it needed.
Now, the cycle path passes through the centre of Marciano della Chiana and Castiglion Fiorentino, the latter an Etruscan and medieval town where many interesting events take place such as the ‘Maggio Castiglionese’ and the ‘Palio dei Rioni’. There are also many pleasant things to do if you leave for a while the main route: starting from Marciano and Foiano, you can discover the beautiful Arezzo countryside with its vineyards, farms and cypresses on the hills of Lucignano, famous for its highly original, elliptical shape, town plan; and Monte San Savino, a historical and extremely important art centre, with its Renaissance spirit, and that nowadays is proud of its uniquely original and artistic pottery creations.
Near the 49 km mark, the cycle and pedestrian path passes near the ‘casello idraulico [water lodge] of Frassineto’ before crossing at right angles the wide road that connects the farms of Font’a Ronco (which cannot be visited) and Frassineto. In this part of the route, you can easily appreciate the extent of the land reclamation that, in the Grand Duchy’s elegant and architecturally interesting farms, was essential for their agriculture.