The Origins of the Genius

Leonardo’s Birthplace ticket

Leonardo’s Birthplace in Anchiano is located about 3 km from the village of Vinci, along a route lined with splendid olive trees resting on the iconic Tuscan hills. It can be reached on foot via the Strada Verde, where you can also admire the fish ladder—a stepped stone structure that directed river waters into an artificial canal flowing by the Doccia Mill, mentioned in one of the sheets of the Codex Atlanticus.

Upon arriving at the evocative Birthplace of Leonardo, he himself welcomes visitors through a fascinating holographic installation, telling his story within the very walls where he was born and raised—a memorable life deeply connected to his native land.

From the central room, furnished with a 15th-century fireplace and the Da Vinci family crest carved in pietra serena stone, visitors proceed to the right room, where a scale model illustrates Leonardo’s final journey—the one that in 1516 took him from Rome to Amboise, France. Among panels and multimedia supports about Leonardo’s life, there is the interactive application Leonardo Touch, focusing on his painting and graphic work: an engaging way to interact directly with some of his drawings and painted works.

The adjacent farmhouse, housing the ticket office and bookshop, concludes the visit with two videos: one about the Battle of Anghiari, Leonardo’s unfinished and now lost masterpiece painted in the Great Hall of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence; the other commemorates the seventieth anniversary of the Birthplace’s opening as a museum.

If arriving on foot from Vinci village along the Strada Verde (itinerary no. 14), visitors can admire the ancient path of about 2 km immersed in the countryside and landscapes that first inspired the young Leonardo. The rural route winds through the typical Tuscan cultural landscape characterized by terraces and fields cultivated with vineyards and olive groves, following the path of what was known in the 19th century as the Botanical Way.

GET READY FOR YOUR VISIT BY DOWNLOADING THE LEONARDO MUSEUM APP

Duration: 30 minutes (house visit only) – about 1 hour (house visit + Strada Verde)

Parking: Piazzale Dent, near the Birthplace

Accessibility information

Shuttle service