The upper tiber valley
THE VALLEY

The Upper Tiber Valley is positioned in a single orographic bowl divided into two political borders. This paradox dates back to 1440 when Pope Eugenio IV sold Borgo Sansepolcro to the Florence Republic for 25000 gold ducats.
Since then the northern part has been annexed to Tuscany while just below is the very northern part of Umbria.
Many efforts have been made in the past to re-compose the political unification. After Italy's Unity, Città di Castello filed an application to be a unique political country and to be annexed to Arezzo to create the Tuscany Upper Tiber Valley, but the request was refused due to Fratta's opposition, who, whilst supporting political unification refused to leave Perugia, to which it was very devoted. So, in 1936 the Città di Castello district, together with the Tuscany part of the valley, would have been founded, but Sansepolcro rose against it and the suggestive hypothesis fell down. However a complete itinerary of the valley can't miss out the Tuscany part, together with its artistic treasures, in particular Piero della Francesca's masterpieces such as "The resurrection" in Sansepolcro's Civic Museum and the "Madonna del Parto" in Monterchi but also not to be missed are Anghiari & Caprese, Michelangelo Buonarroti's birth place, Pieve Santo Stefano and other many towns and villages that deserve to be visited for their urban structure and for their beautiful sights.