La Tana del Bianconiglio Val D’Orcia

La Tana del Bianconiglio was born from the dream of Ludovica and Diego who felt the need to re-establish contact with nature in harmony with its inhabitants, moving from the city to the countryside to devote themselves to agriculture with a different awareness than other realities.

At the Tana del Bianconiglio the land is cultivated with love and respect by adopting an organic method following the natural cycles of the earth.The animals are saved from situations of exploitation and violence, and welcomed in their shelter for free animals a few meters away from the farm.

The structure is intimate and reserved, has three large apartments furnished with care and equipped with every comfort, for a weekend or a long holiday immersed in nature in the rolling hills of the Valdorcia, nominated as a World Heritage Site. To make summer days even more pleasant and suggestive, there is a panoramic infinity pool.

The farm boasts seven hectares of olive groves, orchards, a path of aromatic herbs and an organic garden from which they obtain their genuine and delicious products: from extra virgin olive oil to wholemeal pasta to legumes and vegetables. In addition to enjoying the magical atmosphere of the Lair, there are numerous activities to do in the surroundings thanks to its strategic position.

OLIVO APARTMENT
The Olivo apartment is developed on the entire ground floor of the main farmhouse, has an area of ​​100 square meters and consists of a comfortable dining room with kitchen, the living room with fireplace, two double bedrooms and two bathrooms.

GIRASOLE APARTMENT
The Girasole apartment is located on the entire upper floor of the main farmhouse, has an area of ​​100sqm and consists of a comfortable dining room with kitchen, living room with fireplace, two double bedrooms and a bathroom

GRAPE APARTMENT
The Uva apartment is an annex of 60 square meters consisting of a comfortable dining room with kitchen, a double bedroom, a small bedroom with a French bed (120 × 190) and a bathroom.

FARM PRODUCTS
The company boasts 7 hectares divided into a large olive grove, an orchard, an organic vegetable garden and a path of aromatic herbs. During the stay it is possible to buy the products grown on our organic farm: extra virgin olive oil, legumes, cereals, pasta and jams. Depending on the season and availability, you can also take advantage of the vegetables from the organic garden.

FEEDING THE EARTH TO FEED HEALTH
Our organic products are the result of a long process that we personally take care of from the beginning to the harvest. With dedication and constancy we take care of every phase of growth, without any use of chemicals, adopting the Organic method, to obtain a product that, in addition to being natural, retains its authenticity unaltered.

At the Tana del Bianconiglio products with authentic and enveloping flavors are grown to satisfy our needs and those who know how to appreciate and enhance their uniqueness.

Our philosophy is not to produce as much as possible, but to pay attention to the quality of what we cultivate and to re-establish a relationship between Man and the Earth, which is now increasingly distant, which is not one of exploitation but of respect. We try to revive ancient varieties that have been set aside to make room for profitability, and to vary crops by breaking away from disrespectful patterns of biodiversity.

ORGANIC WHOLE DURUM WHEAT SEMOLINA PASTA
A pasta obtained by stone grinding of the grains, the main characteristic is to grind the whole grain of the wheat with a low speed which reduces the overheating of the millstones and therefore of the flours without affecting their properties.

Furthermore, grinding the whole grain also preserves the germ that is on the outside, which contains particularly valuable nutrients such as mineral salts, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium, fibers and antioxidants that would be lost with the industrial refining process. Subsequently, after the bronze drawing, the pasta is dried slowly at a low temperature, ready to be savored!

ORGANIC BLACK CHICKPEA PASTA
A paste obtained from the grinding of black chickpea, a precious and protein-rich legume, a variety of the traditional CICER ARIETINUM, from which it is characterized by a more intense and aromatic flavor.

The origins date back to the Egyptians and the Greeks, much appreciated also by the ancient Romans who ate them fried. The black chickpea boasts numerous benefits for the health of the organism, they contain iron, are rich in vitamins and mineral salts.

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Our oil is obtained from typical Tuscan varieties, including Frantoio, Leccino, Moraiolo and Pendolino which give intense and fragrant aromas with unique organoleptic properties. The olive trees are treated with the organic method without the use of chemicals, fertilized through the practice of green manuring which consists in burying legume plants that bring a considerable amount of nitrogen and organic substance to the soil.

The plants are treated one by one with specific interventions that respect the needs of the plant, maintaining a natural shape without making drastic and invasive cuts. The production counts more than six hundred olive trees of which five hundred were transplanted in 2016 with a sixth of an extensive seven by seven plant. An intense, full-bodied and delicate oil, cold pressed and suitable for any seasoning.

ANIMAL SHELTER
La Tana del Bianconiglio is also a shelter for free animals that is part of the Network of Sanctuaries in Italy. A non-profit organization that was born with the aim of welcoming and rescuing animals of all kinds, mainly considered “income” whose short existence is destined to cease inside a slaughterhouse.

In addition to restoring the freedom denied, the intent of the Refuge is to put people in contact with the animals that inhabit it and to spread the culture of respect for their rights as sentient individuals. Through their knowledge to stimulate and recall that feeling called empathy which has the ability to place us in the state of mind of those who suffer, be it a human or non-human animal.

The refuge, which repudiates all forms of violence and discrimination, supports and believes in a model of society based on antispecism, promoting a vegan culture, of respect and justice towards every living being.

Each animal that lives in the White Rabbit’s Den has its own story of rebellion and resistance. He is a unique individual who, like us, has a personality of his own, feels emotions, makes social relationships, feels and avoids pain.

Refugee animals coexist freely, in the most natural way possible and in accordance with their ethological needs, and take back what they have been unjustly deprived of: their life. At the same time they speak out for all those who are still waiting to be freed from slavery and suffering.

SENIA
Senia is a pig who became famous in Siena thanks to her rebellion and her leap to freedom from a vehicle that was transporting her to the slaughterhouse. Once captured by police officers, her life was once again in danger as she had been provisionally returned to another breeder.

Thanks to the immediate intervention of the Network of Free Animal Sanctuaries, which asked the Mayor to entrust Senia to one of the authorized shelters, she was saved and we welcomed her into the large family of the Tana del Bianconiglio.

As soon as she arrived, Senia did a little round of patrol and entered the new wooden house with lots of warm straw and completely immersed herself in it until she covered her face in the series “finally I can live in peace”!

FRIDA
Frida was used as a mare in a family farm. Her life was aimed at giving birth to lambs for human consumption. For four long years she gave birth constantly and had her children taken away one by one. Following a physical decline of her, being no longer useful, she too would have been sent to the slaughterhouse.

Despite the cruelty and violence Frida suffered, after a short time from her arrival at the Refuge, she showed trust and affection towards us, as soon as she sees us arrive she is one of the first to run towards us and she really likes to receive caresses.

CLEMENTINE
Clementina was born in an organic breeding of Chianina cows where the animals can spend time outdoors at certain times of the year. Behind this appearance there are equally hidden abuses and violence and the ending for the animals is always the same.

Clementina’s mother was considered a wet nurse, that is a Friesian cow used as a milk reserve for calves left orphaned or born from twins. She spent all her days tied to her and could see her daughter only three times a day, for a short period of time when Clementina was released with the other calves to drink her milk.

Clementina, not being a pure Chianina, had a lower economic value for her breeder, but her destiny was the same as that of purebred calves: at six months of age she would have been sold in Northern Italy to a herd defined as fattening where she would have spent another six months locked up in a small box until the day of its slaughter.

“Adult cattle” is the definition that consumers would have found on the packages containing her body torn to pieces. Clementina’s mother was sold and we never heard from her again. Clementina we managed to save her and now she lives free in our refuge together with her inseparable friend Sirius of hers.

DIANA AND BRUNA
Diana and Bruna had both been discarded by their breeder because they were the smallest and weakest of two different litters of pigs. They would have died of starvation and hardship or, if they managed to survive, they would have been destined for slaughter at six months of age.

They are very close to each other but have two completely different characters. Bruna is more reserved and suspicious, Diana is expansive and loves to be scratched under her belly. Both express emotions and desires with their eyes which are deeply communicative.

DINA AND MERLINO
Dina and Merlino, a mother and her son stolen from the disassembly chain. Dina was considered a late-career sheep, Merlin a lamb for meat, both would travel together to the place of no return.

Since 2016 they have lived free in the shelter, despite the exploitation she has suffered and the countless parts she resists, she can finally be on the lookout for those who are dearest to her in the world. It is not uncommon to find them resting their heads on each other.

WINNIE
Winnie was found by a girl next to a garbage can, probably abandoned by those who bought it in a shop as if it were an object. Since 2019 she has been living free and carefree at the Refuge together with other rabbits. At the Tana Winnie despite her small size has shown great strength and determination, it is no coincidence that of the many shelters available to her she almost always prefers to stay on the roof.

SALVO AND DALI ‘
Salvo and Dali ‘being males were considered not useful for milk production and would have been slaughtered a few months old. Since 2019 they have lived safe and free at the Refuge, always united by their deep friendship. Both are extremely curious and lively, when someone comes to visit them they follow him step by step to receive a caress or find something they can “steal”.

MERRY
Allegra was born at the shelter on April 21, 2018. Her mother Eva was considered an end-of-life sheep, too weak and exhausted to continue giving birth to lambs, which is why her breeder would have slaughtered her.

A few months after her arrival at the Refuge we discovered that Eva was pregnant and it was really exciting to see a little lamb for the first time born and grow up with the love and warmth of her mother. Unfortunately Eva is gone, almost a year after Allegra’s birth she had reached the end of her strength, and despite our care she let herself go.

Before she died we reassured her and made a promise, that her little lamb would receive everything she and her children had been deprived of: a life of freedom without any exploitation and happy until the end of the days of she.

ARGON
Argo was found in Athens together with his mother, sisters and brothers, abandoned on a beach. Francesca and Stefano, two volunteers who were there on vacation, as soon as they found them immediately rescued them and decided to take them to Italy for a safe adoption and save them before they could be harmed.

Argo was the only one of the 12 puppies who had not found hospitality for this reason we decided to take care of them ourselves. Since 2015 he has lived with many animals, he loves to immerse himself in the pond in the company of the pigs and steal their vegetables, especially broccoli and tomatoes.

VIA FRANCIGENA
The Via Francigena, Francisca or Romea, is a historical route used by numerous pilgrims to go to Rome for prayer or to continue and reach the Holy Land. A journey that proceeds from the Aosta Valley pastures to the plowed fields of Piedmont, from the waters of the Po to the hills of Emilia, passing from the climbs of Tuscany to the Sienese descents and the lakes of Lazio to Rome.

The original journey from Canterbury to Rome was 1600 km, the difficulty of the journey represented in itself an act of penance for the pilgrim, symbolically and materially they handed him over into the hands of God. Via Francigena, on foot or by bike, is an opportunity for a renewed relationship with Nature but also with history. In 1994 it was declared a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.

BATHS OF BAGNO VIGNONI
The waters that can be seen in this thermal place were used since the time of the Etruscans and then the Romans, frequented by illustrious people such as Pope Pius II, Catherine of Siena and Lorenzo de ‘Medici.

At the center of the village is the “Piazza delle Sorgenti”, a rectangular basin of sixteenth-century origin that contains a source of hot and steaming thermal water that comes out of the underground layer of volcanic origins.

BATHS OF BAGNI SAN FILIPPO
Immersed in a luxuriant wood, the thermal baths of San Filippo are among the most fascinating and suggestive free spas in Tuscany. This spa town is characterized by the presence of limestone formations, hot tubs and waterfalls, one of which is the well-known “White Whale”. The water temperature can reach 48 ° and allows swimming even in winter.

WINE LAND
The Val d’Orcia, a wonderful valley with its rolling hills covered with vineyards, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004. For lovers of good wine and beautiful landscapes, the Strada del Vino Orcia, a journey through the main municipalities of the area where it is possible to find excellent local producers.

MOUNT AMIATA
A mountain group of volcanic origin located in the Tuscan Anti-Apennines, between the Maremma, the Val d’Orcia and the Val di Paglia. The beech forest of Monte Amiata is the largest in Europe, a place where you can be dazzled by the colors of the forest, breathe the healthy air and the enchanted atmosphere of an interrupted dialogue between man and the environment.

The network of marked trails that allow excursions of all lengths is very rich. Reaching the summit, on foot or on skis, is an experience worth living.

Rooms: 3

Price: from 140 EUR per night

Source: www.agriturismolatanadelbianconiglio.it