As Donna Buonarotti’s coach made its way down the bed of the infant Tiber (in 1476 the only safe route between Florence and Rome), a thunderstorm broke, the horses took fright, the carriage overturned and in the nearest hamlet that night, in a house she happened to own, she gave birth to her child: Michelangelo.

In the courtyard of an old fort which caps the wooded cone above the modern village, a solid square-built house of Tiberine granite, with a characteristic outside stairway, is identified as the casa natale. Caprese, disfigured by modern bungalows and villini, clings to its medieval atmosphere and parochial pride. Few come here, apart from art pilgrims. It’s the kind of place where you say “Good evening” to people, and they reply “Goodnight”.