The characters in the opera The Visitors are escaping the Black Death by sheltering in a villa outside what city
The Decameron The Decameron (Italian: "Decameron" ] or "Decamerone" ] ), subtitled "Prince Galehaut" (Old Italian: "Prencipe Galeotto" ] ), is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived the "Decameron" after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in "The Decameron" range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales"), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.
La Foce La Foce is a large estate that lies close to the towns of Montepulciano, Chiusi, and Chianciano Terme in the Southern Tuscan region of Val d'Orcia. The estate's late-15th-century villa was restored by Iris Origo and Antonio Origo in the 1920s. The gardens, considered amongst the finest in Italy are designed by the English architect, Cecil Pinsent, who also designed the gardens at Villa Le Balze. The book "War in Val d'Orcia" by Iris Origo is set in this estate, which at the time contained 57 farms in 7,000 acres. Castelluccio, a medieval castle on the property, is the venue of an international music festival, Incontri in Terra di Siena, held in memory of Iris and Antonio Origo each July.