3 Best Sights in Buonconvento, Tuscany

An imposing bishop's palace holds this unique museum of Etruscan objects. Although there are many beautiful pieces displayed in an intelligent and well-documented fashion, the almost complete roof and pediment from a 5th-century BC Etruscan house stand out as rare and precious. The so-called Cowboy of Murlo, a large-hatted figure from the same roof, is the star of the collection but anyone interested in ancient Etruscan culture will be well rewarded by a visit here. The museum is named after the nearby site from which most of the artifacts were excavated.

If you're heading northwest to Siena, stray 9 km (5½ miles) west of the Via Cassia to Vescovado and then follow the signs 2 km (1 mile) south to this tiny fortified medieval borgo (village) that has been completely restored.

Today, quiet Buonconvento is worth a stop for a look at its tiny museum, a two-room picture gallery with more than its fair share of works by Tuscan artists such as Duccio and Andrea di Bartolo. A triptych with the Madonna and Saints Bernardino and Catherine by Sano di Pietro stands out amid other gems by Sienese painters of the 14th and 15th centuries, and Donatello tops a list of the Renaissance sculptors also represented.