TRAVEL

COLLODI BUTTERFLY HOUSE
VILLA GARZONI GARDEN
VISIT LUCCA
VISIT GARFAGNANA
VISIT MONTECATINI SPA
VISIT PINOCCHIO PARK
MEDIEVAL TOWNS IN TUSCANY
VISIT VILLAS LUCCA
VISIT PISTOIA ZOO

HOLIDAY

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Visit Tuscany

TOUR IN THE TUSCAN ANTIQUE TOWNS

Valdinievole is  “supervised” from the top of the surrounding hills, from a series of small typical Tuscan medieval villages, protected in strategic ancient positions.
Going in the direction for Montecatini Terme, you come across Uzzano, Stignano, Buggiano, Massa e Cozzile. The first recovered documents of Uzzano go back to the year 1000, when together with Montichiari and the old Vivinaia (Montecarlo), it was Lombard property.  In 1202 it became a self-governing community.  In the 14th Century it passed to the Fiorentines until the Unity of Italy.  Uzzano castle, laid down on the hill that dominates Pescia and turned towards the west, contains the old “Deanship of SS Jacopo e Martino”, where you find a Romanesque baptismal font, various frescos of which one is an attribute to Neri di Bicci and a statue of S. Antonio attributed to Giovanni Della Robbia.   From the small square in front of the church you can enjoy the breathtaking panorama, where the eye can not miss the valley of Pescia, to the end of the mountains that separate Lucca from the sea.  Palazzo del Capitano, the old communal head office, today hosts l’Archivio, with documents relating to the 13th Century.  Originally there were three access doors to the castle, but the best conserved and still in existence today, is the one at the entrance to the village, Porta delle Pille.
From Uzzano with the car you go down the hill crossing a nice and scattered route of olive groves that bring you to the end of Santa Lucia Uzzanese. From here you arrive at Borgo a Buggiano and then you go up, always surrounded by a typical Tuscan landscape, towards Stignano, famous for being the birthplace of Coluccio Salutati, from which you can still see the native house of 1331,
the Chancellor of Florence was one of the founders of Humanism.  The Duke of Milan declared to have received more damage from the letters of Salutati than from an army of 20,000 men. To see, is the Romanesque parish of Sant’Andrea, formerly noted from 1260.
Immediately after, you will come to Buggiano Castello, remaining almost intact in respect to its medieval formation.  In the small central square, which is at the top of the village, there is Palazzo Pretorio built in 1200, with the studded façade of the Podestà Coat of Arms that occured in the centuries.  Next to the Palazzo, is the Romanesque church of San Niccolao erected in 1038, with an adjoining Abbey that contains a wonderful cloister.
Still very visible are the remainders of the ancient fortress, Buggiano Castello faces to the south and dominates the Vallis Nebulae (Valdinievole).
Through an easy route that borders the hills, you arrive at Massa, a very ancient village like an agricultural company of the 3rd and 4th Centuries.  Today it is still a withdrawn medieval village, with a surrounding wall and antique entrance doors.  From Porta ai Campi you arrive by a little pass to the Romanesque parish of Santa Maria Assunta and the Monastery della Visitazione, founded in 1683.  Continuing ahead you will find the Loggia del Podestà, with numerous Coats of Arms.
Moving up from the village, always on the road running along side the ancient habitations, you come to the fortress, where scattered ruins inside the olive groves absolutely celebrate the fusion between history and the typical Tuscan landscape.
Cozzile, united with Massa by a Romanesque road that steeply climbs up between the olive groves making unforgettably lacerations, if you open your eyes you forget you are in the 21st Century.  Entering from the Porta di Levante you arrive on the main road of the castle, the road being surrounded by medieval constructions.  You arrive in this way to the church of San Jacopo, reconstructed in 1500 on a Romanesque structure. Close to the church is the magnificent Palazzo De Gubernatis, which dominates Valdinievole with its panoramic position.  From here, on clear days, it’s possible as far as the eye can see, the dark mass of Monte Capanna of the Isola d’Elba.

AN ABSOULTE VISIT NOT TO MISS

The Butterfly House and Pinocchio Park
Pinocchio Park cannot be anywhere else but Collodi, where the antique village has been for more than a century, with its characteristic waterfall of houses that go from the top of the hill stopping behind  Villa Garzoni with its 17th Century scenic Garden.
Pinocchi Park
Butterfly House Collodi
Villa Garzoni Garden