Photo spot in Chianti & the Tuscan wine country
Castellina in Chianti — Via delle Volte
A vaulted medieval walkway tunnelled through the town wall, opening onto the valley through arch after arch.
About Castellina in Chianti — Via delle Volte
Get directionsVia delle Volte was the sentry walk of Castellina's walls, later roofed over and built into. The result is a long stone tunnel along the western edge of town with regular openings, so you walk from deep shade into a bright arch full of vineyard and back into shade.
That rhythm is the whole reason to shoot here. Stand a subject in one of the openings and the arch frames them with the Val d'Elsa behind; step back into the tunnel and the same person becomes a silhouette.
Because it faces west, the arches fill with warm light in the last hour and the contrast inside gets manageable rather than brutal. At midday the difference between tunnel and opening is too wide for a single frame.
Castellina itself is small and rarely crowded, with parking just outside the old centre. The walkway is public, open at all hours and only about two hundred metres long — pair it with the ridge road out of town for a wider view.
Best time to shoot
The last hour of sun, when the arches fill with warm light
Tips
Expose for the arch and let the tunnel go dark — fighting the shade flattens the whole effect. The floor is uneven stone, so flat shoes for anyone walking through it.
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