Leonardo was born in Anchiano, 3 km from the centre of Vinci, in a house surrounded by ancient olive groves stretching across the Montalbano hills. The house is open to the public, and contains a temporary exhibition with copies of drawings depicting views of the Tuscan countryside and a reproduction of a map Leonardo made of the Arno. Visitors can reach Anchiano from Vinci by road or along a footpath known as the “green road”.

Stretching north of Vinci in the provinces of Florence, Prato and Pistoia is the Montalbano conservation area, a marvellous range of hills cloaked in woods and planted with vines and olives. In the 16th and 17th centuries the Medici set aside part of this area for a vast hunting reserve known as the Barco Reale Mediceo, and some sections of the perimeter wall can still be seen today. An extensive network of footpaths and bike tracks covers much of the Vinci area.

Housed in Palazzina Uzielli and the Castello dei Conti Guidi, the Museo Leonardiano is a documentation centre devoted to Leonardo and Renaissance scientific knowledge. In Palazzina Uzielli, where visitors begin their tour of the museum, there are exhibits focusing on building site and textile machinery, which are also illustrated by animated digital reconstructions. In addition, the building has spaces for temporary exhibitions and educational workshops. Visitors then move on to the Castello dei Conti Guidi, which houses machines and models dealing with various fields of study: machines for military use and ones for flight, machines for travelling on water and land, including Leonardo’s self-propelling cart or “car”, and scientific instruments. The castle also contains the Optics Room, featuring exhibits devoted to Leonardo’s studies of the physics of light.

An invaluable resource for Leonardo scholars, the Biblioteca Leonardiana has facsimile reproductions of all of Leonardo’s manuscripts and drawings, plus all the printed editions of his works, starting with the earliest ones dating back to the beginning of the 17th century. The library collection comprises over seven thousand monographic studies in various languages, and can be consulted by prior appointment