It ought to be obvious that Leonardo came from Vinci, yet his birthplace goes almost ignored by Tuscany’s tourist hordes. Nobody gives a thought to Vinci, even though the town is attached to one of Western culture’s most famous names. I’ve certainly never given it a thought. Why did it never occur to me that Leonardo da Vinci must have come from Vinci?

It’s when I see Vinci mentioned well down a list of shore excursions while on an Azamara cruise in the Mediterranean that my curiosity is piqued. It always pays to get off Tuscany’s well-trodden tourist track, and so I’m off with a few fellow passengers in a van to find out more.