A dream landscape with breathtaking views stretching from Pisa to Volterra seems almost impossible, but the windows of Rivalto open themselves daily on sinuous contours of the Tuscan hills, at the horizon contrasted by the Apennines and topped by a changing sky: clear and intense in summer, surrounded by the charm of a mysterious fog when the weather is gloomy.
Intense shades of a painting by author that, taking shape and life at each new glance, they surprise the viewer with awe and wonder.
This and not only it is what is guarded by the ancient medieval village of Rivalto (from Rio Alto a stream that originates from a hill near the village) around 350 meters above sea level on the Pisan Hills, between the Fine and Rio Maggiore torrents, in the region of the Valdera.
Known for being the birthplace in 1260 to Beato Giordano (Blessed Jordan: dominican friar, theologian and orator, who was beatified in 1833), historically disputed between Pisa, Volterra and Florence, under the Marquisate of the Riccardi family of Florence in the XVII century, it is now part of the municipality of Chianni, in Pisa’s province.
On the ancient Castle’s ruins have been developed the current houses, in typical stone with wooden ceilings and exposed beams, now home to about 80 inhabitants.
The village offers unique corners and landscapes, it is characterized by small churches and oratories that reveal the simplicity of the small rural community and has a long tradition of craftsmanship. Land of chestnut trees, olive trees, pine forests, vineyards, wild boars and other products of the peasant and local food and wine tradition, Rivalto’s climate benefits from the influence of the sea (just 35 km) and it boasts an enviable position to visit the main places of artistic and cultural Tuscany (30 km from Volterra, 40 km from Pisa and San Gimignano, 70 km from Lucca, 80 km from Florence and Siena).
