CHIUSI DELLA VERNA

FotoChiusi della Verna is located at 820 mt of altitude into the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests.
Originally, it was an Etruscan-Roman village. Later, due to the fact that is was nearby “Via Major”, one of the most important roads that used to connect Casentino to Romagna, it became a center of commercial exchanges and pilgrimages.
After centuries of battles between Aretini and Florentines, in 1384, Chiusi della Verna became part of the Republic of Florence. One of the governors of this village was Ludovico Buonarotti Simoni, father of the famous artist Michelangelo who was born in Chiusi and baptized in the near church of Vezzano.
On top of the mount, near the village, there is the Sanctuary of La Verna that was donated by the cont Orlando Catani to Saint Francis of Assisi in 1213. Here, the Saint practiced a life of penitence and mystic contemplation and he received the stigmata in 1224.


CASENTINO

Casentino is a land of 700 kmq, located in the Hight Valley of Arno of the Apennine Mountains between Tuscany and Romagna. Due to its strategic position, Casentino is a natural oasis that had been home of feudal arguments between Florentines and Aretini throughout the centuries. Dante Alighieri, a famous poet of that time, wrote about these lands in many of his stories. Furthermore, there are many hermitages and sanctuaries and castles that have a historical and religious importance.


Places of interest:

Religious places

Castles

Historic towns:

BIBBIENA

Bibbiena was a town of Etruscan origins that, later on, became a feud of Bishops of Arezzo. On the medieval streets, there are some historical palaces and churches of remarkable interest.
The Church and Chiostro of San Lorenzo were built in the1400 to host the Franciscan Friars Minors. In the inside of the monastery there is a choir behind the altar of the 17th century and a tabernacle of the following century that has two terracotta’s windows placed one in front of the other: on the right The Nativity of Andrea della Robbia and on the left The Deposition of the Christ.
The Sanctuary of Saint Mary of the Stone, located 1 km from Bibbiena, is the only example of Renaissance in Casentino and it was named as a national monument in 1899. The name of the sanctuary comes from a big stone where Mary appeared to Caterina in 1347. In the middle of the basilica, there is an artistic little temple of Bartolomeo Bozzolini from Fiesole that encloses the fresco of S. Mary of the Stone of the Bicci of Lorenzo and some works by Della Robbia.
The Oratory of the SS. Stigmata of Saint Francis was built by the Company of the Holy Stigmata on a property of the Monks of Camaldoli in 1580. The church, rare example of Rococo’ style, has a neoclassic façade divided by four columns that support a small timpani. The church is decorated with leaf motifs on the golden stucco, rosettes and volts of exquisite elegance. The wooden ceiling of the 18th century is carved and decorated with gold. In the middle of the ceiling there is an oval with a wooden frame and a painting representing Saint Francesco receiving the stigmata.


CAPOLONA

Capolona is considered the entrance of Casentino and its birth is dated to the Middle Age. Pieve of Saint Mary Magdalena. La Pieve was established in XI century and it is located in a flat land on the right bank of the Arno River, a few kilometers south of Capolona. Rests of frescos from the Gothic Age and the Renaissance cover up the walls of the church.
Museum of the water “La Nussa”. It is one of the numerous eco-museums of the region of Casentino. It was built inside an old hydroelectric station on the bank of the Arno River. The water is an indispensable resource to produce the energy, to start the action mills, gualchiere and ferriere, a way of transportation and a primary element of life thanking to its healthy properties.


CASTEL FOCOGNANO

The Etruscan presence in Pieve a Socana is documented by the discovery of a large ara behind the apse belonging to the 5th century, of the rests of a flight of stairs, of an ancient temple, fragments of ceramics, black paint, and blocks of stone with Etruscan engravings on it. Socana used to be at the confluence of important streets that linked Casentino to Valdarno, and, through the Major Street, to the northern part of Italy. The first village rose in V-VI D.C. The territory of Castle Foccognano embraces the villages of Salutio and Rassina, one of the first villages of the area center of manufacturing activities such as the production of wool clothing, the weaving of linen and hemp and the e manufacture of silk.
Church of Pieve a Socana. In the VI-VII centuries, the church rose where there used to be the Etruscan temple and the Ara for sacrifices. In fact, behind the church the Ara Etruscan, well preserved, and the rest of the previous churches are visible.
Church of San Martino. It is the first place of adoration dedicated to San Martino, bishop of Tours and French saint. This is the reason why the Carolingis came to Rassina at the time of Carlo Magnum in the IX century.


CHITIGNANO

It used to be a feudal center that became a commune in 1780. During the centuries of the Modern Age, the cultivation and the free trade of tobacco, the clandestine trade of the gunpowder and the breeding of the silkworm, the production of the wine, products of the wood and the discovery of mineral acid water, were the main resources of the community. The properties of the water have been known since the 1600, they are still appreciated and they constitute a possible source of tourism. Chitignano that is not provided with a technological production system gets its main resources from the forest and its products (wood, vegetable coal, chestnuts and mushrooms) from breeding ovine and pigs, from products of hills and valleys (wheat, grape wines and olive trees).
Castle of Count Ubertini. It is one of the oldest castle of Casentino. The guard, the prison, the room of sentences, the room of arms and the cassero are still well conserved.


MONTEMIGNAIO

The territory of Montemignaio in Valdarno has an extension of 26,06 kmq on the north-estern foot of the Pratomagno Mountain between the Secchietta Mount and the Consuma’s Pass. It used to be a feud of Counts from Battifolle. They built a fortress called Castle Leone o Castiglione to strengthen the area. This territory became part of the Republic of Florence that changed it into a podesteria.
Castle Montemignaio rose by an old roman street that it used to be a very busy during the Middle Age.


POPPI

Poppi is located in a peripheral valley in the middle of Casentino between Florence and Arezzo at 475 mt of altitude and it is part of the National Park. The Castle of Counts Guidi is located in the highest part of the medieval city. It was projected by the famous family of architects Di Cambio as “prototype” of Old Palace in Florence. There is also the Abbey of Saint Fidel of the XI century, rich of works of art such as a cross by Giotto, paintings by Ligozzi, Portelli, Davanzati, Morandini and Solosmeo. The Monastery of the Augustinian of the XVI century preserves beautiful terracotta by Della Robbia.
The Castle of the Counts Guidi. This castle is a pure example of the medieval art and it is the best preserved among all of the monuments in Tuscany. Arnolfo, who planned also Old Palace in Florence, built the castle in 1274. Walls with battlement, guelfi and a moat surround the castle. Among the work of art inside the castle there are terracotta by Giovanni Della Robbia and a painting from Botticelli’s school. Of great importance is the Rilliana Library, full of medieval manuscripts and incunabolis, and the Chapel of Counts characterized by a cycle of frescos dated 1300 representing “Histories of the Gospels” attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, one of Giotto’s students.
The Hermitage of Camaldoli. An Hermitage and Monastery constitute the famous monastic complex of Camaldoli of the XI century. The monastery, fund by San Romualdo, father of the camaldolese family, is a two-floor building with two cloisters, a refectory, a foresteria and a cell for the monks. Inside the church there are walnut-tree wardrobes and ancient objects used by the monks to prepare medicines, drugs and balsams. The Holy Hermitage is located at 1111 mt of altitude. A wide fence embraces the church, some buildings and monk’s cells surrounded by their garden. Of great importance are the cell of Saint Romualdo, the ancient library, the old folk’s home, the refectory and the church. In the millennial camaldolese forest that surrounds the hermitage, it seems like the nature has concentrated all of its beauties: from the strawberry’s grass to the lichens, from the centennial trees to the daily flowers. For many centuries, the forest belonged to the monks who used to have the cult of plants.


PRATOVECCHIO

In the Middle Age, Pratovecchio used to be a feud of Counts Guidi who had many castles in Casentino, like the castle of Romena. The story of Pratovecchio has always been linked to the beauty of its forest and to the majestic of the Falterona Mount. In fact, it is not a case that Pratovecchio is the centre of the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests. The historical centre of Pratovecchio is the Old Square while the centre of social life is the New Square entitled to the painter Paolo Uccello. Other works of art are a Tabernacle located in Borg Mezzo with a beautiful terracotta by della Robbia; a famous painting “the Incoronation of the Virgin” and a table dated 1600 belonging to the Pontormo school are in the Camaldolese Convent funded by Count Guidi; the Dominican Monastery with the church of “All Saints”.
The Castle of Romena is located about 2 km from Pratovecchio on a hill of 621 mt of altitude where pieces of Etruscan vases of III ac were found. The Counts Guidi’s dynasty ruled there until 1357, date in which the castle became under the Commune of Florence. The castle is one of the most famous in Casentino and Dante mentioned it in his masterpiece “La Divine Commedia”.
Monastery of Dominican Nuns. It is entitled to St. Mary of the Snow. According to the Dominican ideal of decorous poverty, the structure of the building is simple and bright.


SUBBIANO

The commune of Subbiano is located north of Arezzo and it extends from the left bank of the Arno River to the Alps of Catenaria. It is divided into a newer part in continuous expansion and into an older area around the castle by the river. Even though Saint Mary of the Visit belongs to the XII century, there is a wooden cross from the 1600. Rests of sandstone coats from arms on the façade characterize Il Palazzo Pretorio.