This article originally appeared in the September 2009 issue of Architectural Digest. The moment you arrive in the Val di Chiana, in southern Tuscany, you know you are standing on ancient land. You sense it even before you visit the valley's extraordinary prehistoric caves or discover the wealth of Etruscan antiquities that are still regularly dug up here. And then you see how one great civilization after another has molded the contours of this land to give its horizon its timeless feel.
