Living in Tuscany: Life on Our Medieval Street in Italy

Living in Tuscany: Life on Our Medieval Street in Italy

Welcome back to Tuscanyany and welcome back to Vik Pisano. In today’s video, we’re going to take you on a stroll down our street. As we walk, we’ll introduce you to some of our neighbors, share a little history and a few curiosities, and give you a real feel for what it’s like to live on a medieval street in a small Tuscan town. Jagasi. Today we’re going to take you on a journey in our street vialante which is start from here from the square you can see started from from the square and it goes all the way through. Valante has been at the heart of Vik Pisano since the middle ages. Once a street of merchants, artisans and noble families, its towers and stone houses still whisper stories of centuries past. Today there are fewer merchants, but life flows at a gentler rhythm where history and daily life blend seamlessly. Starting at the top of the Alante, we have the kiasi, which are like these medieval alleyways. And you’ll see these lovely little ceramic plaques that tell you all about the kiasi and how they lead to each level of the village. Now come here because I’ve been up these kiasi so many times but I’ve never noticed this before. Have you ever seen this before Lorenzo? No at all. No beautiful Madonina. A madonina can you explain what a mother nina is? It’s a small uh Madona and a statue that the Italian people they you know they pray sometimes you know Lorenzo and I have lived in this street since 2006 and over the years many of our neighbors have become close friends. One of them is Lorenzo not my Lorenzo but our neighbor and his lovely wife Elellanena. You may remember seeing Ellinger giving us a wave earlier from her shutters. This Lorenzo is the person behind the beautiful drone shots we’ve been enjoying in this video, and we’re so grateful that he and Elellanena share our love for spotlighting Vikano. Recently, Elellanena and Lorenzo began an exciting new venture called VCode, an online shop that brings together unique artisan objects sourced from local craftsman both here in Tuskanyany and further a field. The idea actually came from a trip to Morocco and back in June, we got to experience it for the first time in our own street. Elellanena and Lorenzo collaborated with our neighbors and friends Lisa and Ian from Enoteka 88, creating an event that really captured the spirit of Vilante. It was a hot summer evening with elegant ladies fanning themselves at the tables, neighbors coming together, and the chance to meet the talented artists and craftsmen in person. The atmosphere was magical, a real celebration of creativity and community right here in our medieval street. We didn’t have enough time in this video to tell you the whole story of VCode, but the event inspired me to sit down for a proper interview with Elellanena and Lorenzo. I’ll be sharing that as a special bonus video very soon. For now, I just love being able to share moments like this when our neighbors and friends come together to celebrate something beautiful in our town. So, we’re strolling like a little bit further down Vanti now towards the clock tower, which we’ll show you later. But first of all, we wanted to show you a little secret garden. Let’s go. Let’s go. As we continue down Vante, there are many surprises hidden behind these old stone walls. Some private, some public. But today, we’re going to share one of them with you, a secret garden that has been tendered by some of our neighbors. Meet brothers Jeppe and Marello. They’ve lived on this street all their lives, and if you ever see a three-w wheeled app driving down the Atlantic, it belongs to them. They use it to cultivate some land just outside the village. But now, let’s take a peek into their lush garden. It’s mainly a citrus garden. And while there weren’t any fruits ready to pick at the time of filming, you can already see some huge grapefruits ripening. They also have a massive kiwi plant. Did you know that Italy is one of the top kiwi producers in the world off to China and New Zealand and the biggest in Europe? This garden is protected from the elements, but still gets enough sun for a great harvest. Or maybe there’s a little divine intervention going on. Look, there’s even a little shrine of the Virgin Mary tucked away here in the corner. And now here’s Marello showing off a huge watermelon he’s grown on his land. True taste of the care and love that goes into this little garden. couldn’t take it. The other one you’ve got another one even bigger and so it was too heavy. And where was he saying? Where’s it grow? Up here. Okay. It looks really heavy. Maybe you should take it off him, Lorenzo. my present. Oh yeah, this can’t see. Before moving on, we’re crossing the road to meet another of our neighbors, Ricardo. Officially, Ricardo is retired, but you wouldn’t know it, he still has a little workshop right here on Vilante. Ricardo is a carpenter by trade, and it seems he’s always busy from repairing and repainting shutters to restoring furniture and even making custom pieces from scratch. Ricardo even made our mosquito screens at Kazak Columba. And because no two medieval windows are ever quite the same, each screen had to be measured and built individually, a true craftsman’s touch. By the way, I once asked Ricardo, why are all the shutters here painted green? His answer was simple. They’ve just always been green. I guess tradition is reason enough in Tuscanyany then. So Ricardo was just telling me he was born here 75 years ago and he’s just been telling me pointing out all the different doorways and uh what type of shops they were when he was growing up here. It’s so magical to listen to the people that have lived here all their life and to hear how it’s changed so much as well. But uh I secretly think that the um the community here in Vikasano would love to see it return to have a few more shops um maybe some local artisans like Ricardo working. Thank goodness we have Ricardo because he basically repairs all the shutters in Vante. It’s neighbors like Ricardo who keep the character of this street alive. Every repaired shutter, every restored chair carries a piece of his skill and dedication. As we continue our stroll, we’re now walking towards one of the most striking landmarks on our street, the Tori deluro, the bell tower. Its original structure dates back to the 12th century, and over time it evolved into the elegant tower we see today. Rising above 20 m or around 65 ft. It may once have been intended as part of Vik Pazano’s medieval defenses, but these days it serves as the town’s clock tower. Every day the bells ring out across the village. One chime for each hour and just a single ding at the half hour. Simple but wonderfully atmospheric. And standing guard above the Alante, you’ll spot Laroka de Brunalesi, which incorporates another ancient watchtower. There are so many fascinating stories to tell about this extraordinary monument, enough for an entire video on its own. So, we’ll save that for another time. Just beside the bell tower is a beautiful public garden dedicated to Mary Shelly. Yes, the same Mary Shelly who wrote Frankenstein. It’s a peaceful place full of flowers and curiosities. And you might be wondering, why is there a garden dedicated to Mary Shel in a small Tuscan town? Well, we’ve decided to save that story for an upcoming video. So, here we are. We’ve made it to halfway down our street. We’re halfway down Vante and we’re staying in sitting in the Mary Shelly Garden and under the uh bell tower right here. Yeah, but hang on a minute. There is more things to do. There’s more things to do to see it as well. There are more things to do. We haven’t finished We haven’t finished the street, but we will be finishing the street. But we just wanted to jump on and say um remember this is a street that also holds the dinner in white the Chennel Borgo. And while we’re here we just want to say a massive thank you to all of you that responded uh to the wait list and um actually we’ve been quite overwhelmed, haven’t we? Because there’s so many of you that said that you would love to come and join us next year. And we would absolutely love that. So be patient. We’re just putting together the finishing touches and you’ll get some more information next week. And what else is there to say? What else happens in this street? Oh, we have a medieval festival in the next couple of days. Fantastic. Al also in our road vante. So that’s right. It’s um in fact it will be taking over the whole village of the medieval festival. So we’re looking forward to that. So we’ll bring that to you next week as well. So we’ve hope you’ve enjoyed this video. You’ve been amazing following along our journey and uh we’ll see you in the next video. Absolutely. Ciao. Ciao.

🌿 What’s it really like to live in a small Tuscan town? Walk with us along Via Lante, the main medieval street of Vicopisano, Tuscany. This isn’t just a history lesson — it’s a glimpse into everyday life, curiosities, and the real people who call this street home, including our neighbours.

I’m an expat living in Italy, and my husband Lorenzo is Italian — together we share what daily life really looks like here in Tuscany. If you’ve ever dreamed of living in Italy or wondered what life is like in a medieval Tuscan village, this video will give you a true insider’s view.

In this video, you’ll discover:
🏰 Quirky medieval details and curiosities hidden along Via Lante
👋 Everyday life in Vicopisano, a hidden gem near Pisa and Lucca
💛 What it feels like to actually call Tuscany home

✨ Check out our friends from Vicopisano:
🎥 YouTube: @vicode_

📸 Instagram: vicode.it

📍 Where we are: Vicopisano, Tuscany, Italy
💌 For authentic Tuscan stays and experiences, visit: https://authentic-tuscany.com/

#LivingInItaly #ExpatsInItaly #Tuscany #vicopisano