A very interesting visit to the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, situated in the Montalbano hills, in the heart of Tuscany, a short distance from the main Tuscan cities of Florence, Lucca, Pisa and Siena.
In Vinci, everything revolves around the “Genius”: his home, the church where he was baptized, the streets and squares of the castle which are still architecturally in medieval style. The town of Vinci has its centre inside the Castle, which dates back to the Dark Ages and was owned by Conti Guidi from the year 1000 up until 12th August 1254, when it was won over by Florence and made an Italian city-state.
Traditionally known as the “Castle of the Ship” due to its elongated shape which resembles the outline of a sailing ship, the Castle still holds frescoed and sculptured coats of arms, souvenirs of the Podesta and the wonderful ceramic Madonna with Child by Giovanni della Robbia.
Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing It has been home to the Leonardo Museum since 1953, a museum housed on three floors and with one of the most comprehensive and original collections of machinery and models by Leonardo the inventor, technologist, engineer. Each reproduction is presented and described with accurate reference to Leonardo’s sketches and hand-written notes.
Reference point for scholars and researchers both from Italy and abroad, the Leonardian Library is full of documents regarding Leonardo da Vinci. Here one can find copies of all of Leonardo’s manuscripts and drawings, as well as all the printed matter regarding his works beginning from the 1st edition of the Treaty of Painting of 1651. The library holds over 7,000 monographs in many different languages.
Town of Vinci The Leonardo da Vinci Ideal Museum, on the other hand, is a private gallery situated in the Castles’ cellars. As well as antique farming machinery, it also contains items from exhibitions dedicated to Leonardo.
The Church of Santa Croce, of Romanesque origin, is also part of the Conti Guidi Castle complex. Restructured many times, it still holds the baptism font which is thought to be where the great scientist was baptized.
The house where Leonardo was born is about 3km from Vinci in open countryside. Inside this farmhouse there is a permanent educational exhibition and a copy of a map of the Arno valley (Valdarno) and other sketches of the Tuscan countryside drawn by Leonardo.
Amongst the various activities which take place in Vinci throughout the year, there are the Leonardo Celebrations which are held from mid-April until the end of May. During this period the whole village pays homage to their famous citizen in the anniversary of his birth. The most important part of this event is the “Lettura Vinciana”, a whole day of studies dedicated to Leonardo which, since 1960, takes place on the second Saturday in April in the Leonardian Library.