The Upper valley of the Tiber, or Valtiberina, is the most eastern limb of Tuscany and is called after the river which flows through all of it as far
as Umbria.
The Valtiberina was both the border and the meeting point of different civilizations, Umbran and Etruscan, Bizantine and Longobard. The bishops of Arezzo, the lords of Rimini and the lords of the Montefeltro, the popes of Rome and finally the Florentines contended for these mountains and this valley for centuries.
The Roman patricians of the Augustan period appreciated its beauty and built their villas here. Then feudal nobility and abbots built threatening and sturdy
castles and monasteries, and saints found here the ideal setting for their mysticism. Michelangelo, born in these mountains, perceived life inside the heart of the stone; Piero della Francesca, in his native Borgo San Sepolcro, perceived the secret of space and light and painted them.
In the variety of the architectural styles, the customs and traditions, the handicrafts, the language itself, the Valtiberina proves the multiform influences, coming from Romagna, Marche and Umbria, which
have given it a really peculiar character.
The tradionally difficult passage between the two sides of the Central Appenines have caused the relative isolation of the valley where Sansepolcro has seemed to be a town with its own identity and cultural autonomy. Perfectly preserved walled towns, like Anghiari, or riverside villages, like Pieve Santo Stefano, Camaldolese abbeys and Franciscan monasteries, medieval pievi and castles tell the story of this enchanting land and suggest the
most evocative itineraries.
The Upper Valley of the Tiber is crossed along all its length by the road Statale Tiberina 3 and by the Superstrada E 45 which connects Rome with Northern Italy, crossing the Appennines by the springs of the Tiber. Other roads link it with Arezzo, the Val di Chiana and the Casentino to the West, with Romagna to the North, the Montefeltro and the Adriatic Sea to the East.
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