Birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci — Attraction in Vinci

It is winter. No one was there. We had the entire house to ourselves. It is small and mighty. The ticket includes a tour of the museum/medieval church where his engineering inventions are on display. I was enchanted.

At his birth house (a short drive up the hill), the nice attendant took us to the viewing room and showed us a video in English that taught us more about this master engineer, painter, and thinker.

He was born an illegitimate child to a servant woman and a father who would never acknowledge him. His grandfather recorded his birth, and it was his uncle who left him what land was rightfully his. Alot of who Leonardo became was inspired by growing up in this enchanted hill town outside of Florence. Nature played a huge part. I would go back in summer when more places in the village of...

It's difficult to rate this place, in general, but for me the experience was divine. If you are not passionate about the most amazing person ever born, this place will bore you but if, like me, you feel the pull of energy from Leonardo, you need to go just to stand in the home where he was born. I can imagine his life better by looking through the same windows he looked through and walking the same roads he walked down as he went from his grandmother's house to his poverty stricken mother's house. Look around and enjoy his view, watch the film in Italian or English and try to imagine how his genius was developed from...

Over-Restored, and of dubious Provenance...

The house itself is a decent example of Medieval Tuscan architecture, but overall it feels "new", rather than ancient. This is probably due to the fact that it was rebuilt from its foundations up just a few decades ago.

Then there's the fact that no records exist as to it actually having been the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci. The only extant records certify that it was owned by the da Vinci family around the time of Leonardo's birth.

If you're doing a tour of the area, this is a place to see along the way. It's not something I would go out of my...