"If you like Cypresses, then come to Tuscany". This is what I often say to people who ask me about this fantastic region.

In reality these trees are not originally from here, but they have been imported in Italy from the Phoenicians and Romans, and in Tuscany from the Etruscans. The real origin is located in old Persia, what now is Iran, Syria and Cyprus.

Cypresses are now recognized by many as the typical trees you see in the rural part of Tuscany. A recent study has shown how 53% of foreign tourists visiting the region think that a landscape without Cypress won't be representative of Tuscany anymore.

In all Italy we see these trees in the proximity of cemeteries but saying that they can only be associated with death is very reductive. 

The Etruscan civilization saw in them something related to the passage between life and death, and the idea of planting cypresses near necropolis or cemeteries became also a solution against the bad smells of these places. The resin of these trees in fact was a good natural perfume to cover others. 

There are many other legends about them but it is really difficult to understand what can be true and what not.

From a botanical point of view, the Cypresses (Cupressus Semperervirens), being originally from very warm lands, are trees that can grow and live for a long time in very arid soils and circumstances. 

In Tuscany we have started using them as wind breakers or for signalling the road leading to Villas in every rural part of the region. 

There is definitely something very special to them: to me, they are memories from my childhood -family road trips and all- and since I started cycling they also became a source of inspiration (and shadow for warmer days).