Bagno Vignoni is very unique: nowhere else in Italy will you find its main central square has a pool filled with hot springs water. 49 meters long and 29 meters wide, the Renaissance-era piazza is built directly over the original source of hot springs as enjoyed by the Romans.
The Etruscans and Romans loved hot springs not just for keeping clean, but for their medical properties. Since the 9th century, the springs here and in Bagni San Filippo, located a bit further south at the foot of the Monte Amiata, have been mentioned in old travel journals of abbots and others making their pilgrimage down to Rome (and many on to Jerusalem). Bagno Vignoni is, in fact, just a few minutes off the Via Francigena, one of the most important travel routes taken by pilgrims from England down to Rome and to the Holy Land. Famous historical figures, including Pope Pius II, Catherine of Siena and Lorenzo the Magnificent, enjoyed the hot springs at Bagno Vignoni on a regular basis.
The hot springs in Bagno Vignoni have always allowed water to flow even during the warm summer months, thus several water mills were constructed along the Orcia river over the centuries. These ancient mills, along with a complex system of water canals and gorges today constitute the Parco dei Mulini, or Park of the Mills, created in the 1990s.
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