Sourroundings of Lunigiana

Sourrounding of Lunigiana, Podere La Piana

Lunigiana, from the Tusco-Emilian Apennines to the coast, is an area to be roamed, discovered and savoured for a quality holiday in harmony with the natural world.
The Via Francigena (known In English as the Frankish Route), one of the oldest (first cited by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 994) and, for centuries, most-travelled routes to Rome, bears witness to the passage of pilgrims, merchants and armies in the form of castles, baptismal churches and walled towns that still mark an unspoilt, and almost impregnable, natural landscape.
Castles and ruins of castles, Romanesque baptismal and other churches, mediaeval towns and patrician buildings follow each other thick and fast in a journey that holds out thrills and excitement throughout Lunigiana. The accommodation and amenities are no less of a revelation: summer and winter sports facilities, spa treatments and opportunities for trekking and cave tours alternate with local customs and traditions to enhance the tourist attractions of a tongue of land poised between mountains and sea, flanked by Liguria's Cinque Terre and Tuscany's heritage cities and surrounded by unspoilt countryside.
The area’s many towns hold out countless opportunities for excursions and fascinating tours. We can highlight the following in brief:

Fivizzano: a patrician city In eastern Lunigiana. After being ruled by the Malaspina family, it was incorporated Into the Florentine Republic. Worth a visit: the Medicean walls; the old town centre with its square and Medicean fountain; the baroque Oratory of St. Charles (17th century); the church of Saints James and Anthony (14th century): mediaeval font bearing the truncated cross, symbol of the Knights of the Tau; the Convent of St. Augustine (14th century); the Convent of the Carmine. Nearby: Verrucola castle and village; the Frignoli Botanical Gardens (0585 949688); Pieve S. Paolo: Vendaso baptismal church (8th-12th century); Gragnola and the Castello dell'Aquila (Eagle's Castle); Arlia and its ancient mill (0187 422598).

Villafranca in Lunigiana: village with the signs and premises of the ancient craft workshops.
Worth visiting: Church of St. Nicholas (12th century); the Lunigiana Ethnographic Museum, which houses the treasures of the local rural tradition (info. 0187 439417). Nearby: Filetto: walled village of Byzantine origin that still retains the quadrangular plan of the Roman "castrum"; Malgrate: mediaeval village featuring a Malaspina castle (13th-17th century) with a cylindrical tower looming over it and protected by walls.

Pontremoli, the northern gateway to Lunigiana and a typical mediaeval city, born of a village that clustered around Its castrum. Seen from the Cisa road, the Piagnaro Castle, fully restored and home to the Stelar Statues Museum, and the town's houses seem to be defending its old centre, defended to the north by the Parma Gate and bounded to the south by the confluence of the rivers Magra and Verde. The town is rich in monuments, such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Popolo (17th century), with its baroque interior, the Campanone, a tower forming part of the old curtain of walls that kept the Guelphs and Ghibellines apart, the Church of St. Colombanus, the Church of St. Peter with the pilgrim's labyrinth sculpture and the Church of the Most Holy Annunciation, built in 1471. In the centre of this "Pearl of Lunigiana," facing the minor baroque masterpiece of the Church of Our Lady, we have the Teatro della Rosa, one of Italy's first theatres, recently restored and displaying a wealth of baroque features inside.
The town is home to the Bancarella literary prize (ceremony held on the third Sunday in July).

Filattiera, an age old Ligurian settlement, in the Middle Ages the capital of the Spino Fiorito branch of the Malaspina family. Worth visiting: the Church of St. George with Leodgar's tombstone and the mediaeval castle defence tower (14th century). At the foot of the village there Is the Baptismal Church of Sorano (8th-10th century), a fine example of Romanesque art. Nearby: Ponticello, a traditional village with roofed-over streets; Caprio, an interesting village with remains of tower houses.
Bagnone, featuring the castle, perched on a promontory and, below it, the mediaeval village. What to see: the baron's castle with its cylindrical tower (14th century), a feature shared by many of Lunigiana's castles. Nearby: the mediaeval village and castle of Castiglione del Terziere (info. 0187 429010) (11th century); Jera, a small mountain village affording magnificent views.

Bagnone, il castello, arroccato sul promontorio e, più in basso, il borgo, caratterizzano questo paese. Da vedere: castello marchionale con torre cilindrica (sec. XIV) comune a molti castelli della Lunigiana. Nei dintorni: borgo e castello di Castiglione del Terziere (info 0187 429010), (sec.XI); Jera, piccolo villaggio montano che offre splendidi panorami.

Mulazzo: An originally Byzantine village that the Spino Secco branch of the Malaspina family turned into its capital.
What to see: the octagonal tower, known as "Dante's Tower" because Dante stayed there as a guest of the Malaspinas; the remains of the Malaspina castle (13th-15th century); the imposing arches of the ancient aqueduct (15th century); 18th-century navigator Alessandro Malaspina Studies Centre (info. 0187 439712). Nearby: on the way to Gavedo, which boasts a 16th-century castle, you can visit the ancient Romanesque Church of St. Martin (8th century); Montereggio: a picturesque village surrounded by chestnut woods and home of the wandering booksellers; the mediaeval Monastery of the Madonna of the Mountain with its 14th-century Marian icon.
Aulla: the Brunella Fortress (15th-16th century), now the Museum of Lunigiana Natural History (0187 409077) looms over the town. Nearby: the mediaeval village of Bibola, with its spiral structure and the remains of a mighty castle (12th-13th century); the walled mediaeval village of Caprigliola with its cylindrical tower (12th century).

Comano: the Malaspina castle (11th-13th century) with its imposing round tower rears up out of a striking landscape. Nearby: the Romanesque Baptismal Church of Crespiano (11th century) of which the bell tower remains.

Equi Terme: An ancient village set against the background of the Appuan Alps. Worth visiting: the Equi Caves (0585 942122), an underground tour; the spa (0585 949300) with its highly esteemed sulphurous waters; the Regional Nature Reserve of the Appuan Alps (visitors' centre 0585 97544): the Solco (gorge) of Equi brings you straight onto the ancient Marble Route. Nearby: Vinca, famous for its bread.

Casola in Lunigiana: The Lunigiana gateway to the Appuan Alps Reserve; the area has a wealth of mediaeval remains. Worth a visit: the cylindrical tower (11th-15th century); the Upper Aurelia Valley Territorial Museum (0585 90361): a collection of prehistoric finds (0585 90361). Nearby: the baptismal churches of Codiponte and Offiano, ancient walled villages.
Fosdinovo: wedged in between the village walls, where sea breezes mingle with the mountain winds, the Malaspina Castle (14th-17th century) rears up; the Church of St. Remigius (1367); panoramic viewpoint. Nearby: Caniparola and the Malaspina Villa; Luni; Sarzana; the Cinque Terre.

Le Cinque Terre make up one of the most unspoilt and extensive Mediterranean areas in Liguria, one of wild country and scents that has remained as it was in the past. Visiting the Cinque Terre means visiting five villages poised between land and sea, clinging to steep cliffs and surrounded by verdant hills; it means learning about the people who have for centuries grappled with hostile terrain, and also savouring the result of this age-old struggle in the uniqueness of its wines and produce.