Calanchi are craggy hillsides formed from the erosion of clay and sandy terrain due to rainfall and other natural elements, which from uneven peaks fan downwards in catchment areas and often form a series of calanchi which are separated by gullies of varying size.
Biancane are a more complete form of erosion of clay and lime terrain forming dome shaped mounds of up to 15 metres in height, they are usually found grouped together in fields. With both the calanchi and biancane the slopes facing south have very little vegetation.

More than any other the cypress tree has become a symbol of the Val d'Orcia. Since ancient times it has been highly considered: it was worshipped by the Phoenicians who believed it represented the eternal flame, used by the Etruscans to adorn tombs, in the Book of Genesis it is the wood used to build Noah’s Arc, ancient Rome considered it a sacred tree and used the wood to sculpt religious figures destined to last for eternity, an example of this is the statue of Jupiter in the Campidoglio in Rome. The cypress is now present throughout the Mediterranean basin.

1) In the medieval period: a group of buildings an land kept by a community of Cistercian monks.
2) A summer refuge for shepherds, with stalls and a hay-loft – a rural building use as a store place for food and equipment.
3) A fortified farm.

A diesel rail car which was came into service at the beginning of the 1930’s as an alternative to the motor coach “torpedoni” and was used both on main line and secondary routes. It was named after a type of coach use by il Duce in December 1932 for his journey to inaugurate the new city of Littoria, built following the drainage of the Pontine marshes.

See "biancane".

Trachyte is a rock of volcanic origin which formed after the volcanic eruption of the ancient volcano of Monte Amiata. It is grey-black in colour, extremely hard but porous and easy to work. Over the centuries, most of the buildings on the mountain were built of trachyte.

Founded in1324-34 by Bernardo di Tolomei and rebuilt between the end of the 15th century and 16th century in renaissance style. Sant'Anna in Camprena is an Olivetan monastery with important frescoes in the refectory, by Antonio Bazzi otherwise known as Sodoma. It is now owned by the diocese and is open to the public. There is also accommodation available.

Remembered in the travel memoirs Philip II, king of France, returning from the third crusade in 1191, it was run by the Sienese hospital of Santa Maria della Scala until 1236. In the 13th century it was fortified with turrets and battlements and used as a fortified farm.