Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park

www.parcoappennino.it

Apuan Alps Regional Park

www.parcapuane.it

In Lunigiana, in addition to numerous protected sites, you will find two natural parks, the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Regional Park of the Apuan Alps. For more information, we recommend you contact the Visitor Centers, where in addition to the story of the area, its peculiarities, gadgets and resale of typical products await you. In addition, here trekking enthusiasts will find all the information and cartography to organize their excursion. In Equi Terme, don't miss the opportunity for a visit to the Apuan Geo Lab, a modern museum and interactive laboratory, also suitable for children, to find out everything there is to know about Earth science...

Duration: one day.

Difficulty: medium

For more info and excursions with a qualified guide contact the Scuderia Agriturismo "Il Picchio Verde" Amola - Licciana Nardi - Andrea +39 339 4391276

Departure and return from Agriturismo Il PIcchio Verde - Loc. Molesana (Licciana Nardi)

Departing from Molesana the trail immediately enters the woods and introduces us to the Deglio valley. Skirting the stream surrounded by a wild and luxuriant nature we will arrive in the locality of Cassolana we will cross this small village where time seems to have stopped to climb towards Gabbiana and a path that crosses first chestnut woods and then beech woods until we reach the locality of Pastina where we will stop for lunch in a typical trattoria. We will arrive in Bagnone Municipality of Lunigiana famous for offering one of the many typical Lunigiana products the onion of Treschietto with which the famous Barbotta is cooked. The town is dominated by a marvelous castle that we will reach by crossing ancient and evocative villages and bridges. Leaving behind the Malaspina walls we will resume the forest and on the way back we will visit the beautiful village of virgoletta with a stop to quench our thirst with the fresh water that flows from the famous fountains and crossing a stretch of the via francigena we will return to Molesana.

Protected Area Special Area of Conservation "Gordana Stream Valley"
web: www.strettidigiaredo.org

The Straits of Giaredo are a portion of the larger PROTECTED AREA called the Special Area of Conservation "Gordana Stream Valley." Extending for about 1,000 meters, the Giaredo Straits represent the lower section of the much larger rocky gorge of the Gordana stream that stretches for about 7Km from the village of Noce di Zeri (560m asl) to the abandoned settlement of Giaredo (300m asl), near Pontremoli. Here the watercourse flows between huge rocky blocks and vertical walls.

It can be accessed by guided tours organized by Sigeric during the summer season. The ascent of this gorge is an exciting experience and very interesting because of the special features of the surrounding environment for the fauna, flora and geology of the area. During your hike among the vertical walls you can admire the hanging tree formations of ash and alder, observe the  Scolopendria commune, an interesting whole-leaf fern, indicative of alkaline soils, while it will be possible to encounter the Italic Frog and the Common Toad, as well as, among birds, the Yellow Wagtail and the Grey Heron, and, with a modicum of attention, you may catch sight of the Dipper intent on swimming and diving in the cold water in search of food. If you are lucky, while approaching the Straits Gorge, you may come across the  Spotted salamander, the Alpine newt, theApennine yellow-bellied howler and the Strinati's Geotriton. The latter two species are very rare and, possessing curious and unique ecological and ethological characteristics, are indicative of the excellent natural conservation of the area.

WANT TO VISIT THE STRAITS? FIND OUT SOME USEFUL TIPS

DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL: Equi Terme/ Monzone (Fivizzano)
LENGTH: 4.66 km
DEVELOPMENT: 186 m
DIFFICULTY: E
CARTOGRAPHY: Eastern Lunigiana, Geomedia 2018

n easy hiking trail to discover the environmental, geological and cultural diversity of theUpper Lucido Valley. Within the  Apuan Alps Regional Park the common thread iswater, which over the millennia has carved canyons, valleys and karst and even ancient glaciers, but also gushes out intact with remarkable thermal and healing properties.

Discover the stages of this circular excursion departing from Equi Terme or of Monzone, passing through small medieval villages, ruins of ancient castles, wash houses, factories and sawmills.Along the way you will find panels illustrating the history of this corner of Lunigiana...

Tuscan-Emilian Apennine Park

Via Comunale 23 Sassalbo di Fivizzano (MS)
Tel: 0585 947 200 | 0522 610 516 | 0522 610 527
mail: biosfera@parcoappennino.it

web: www.mabappennino.it

The Apennines is the mountain range backbone of the Italian peninsula. The area of the Reserve established by UNESCO on June 9, 2015, is a significant part of the northern Apennines and, while representing a typical condition of the Apennine-mountainous territory, it is characterized, however, by a unique feature: being a focal point of the Euro-Mediterranean climatic frontier. This characteristic has determined, together with geological heritage and other factors, the setting of a complex ecological and cultural mosaic, which in turn is the basis for the evolution of the landscape. The entire Lunigiana will soon be part of this important area recognized

Location Signano, Fivizzano MS, Italy

Parish of S.M. Assunta di Pognana

tel. 0585 984102

Traditionally called "Pieve" the Chapel of Santa Maria Assunta of Pognana is first mentioned in Lothair's Diploma of 1137 and became an autonomous parish before 1568. After the 1920 earthquake, the church was restored to its primitive Romanesque style. Inside you can see interesting capitals carved with plant and animal motifs and geometric plays

(bibliography: "From Luni to Massa Carrara - Pontremoli, the becoming of a diocese between Tuscany and Liguria from the 4th to the 21st century."-wikipedia)

Locality Montefiore, 37, Casola in Lunigiana

Parish S. PIETRO di OFFIANO

Mentioned in a document by Pope Eyugenius III in 1148 the Pieve di San Pietro di Offiano is likely much older , as can be inferred from the structure of nearby settlements tracing earlier prehistoric settlements and the presence of ancient transhumance routes on which a Roman road was grafted. Archaeological excavations revealed the structure Romanesque origin with three apses a sandstone, while the walls were white limestone.. In the 15th century a baptismal font was placed, which is now preserved in the Casola museum. In the 18th century it was transformed into Baroque forms as we see it today. On the facade is a marble fragment that appears to depict a pilgrim

(bibliography: "From Luni to Massa Carrara - Pontremoli, the becoming of a diocese between Tuscany and Liguria from the 4th to the 21st century" - wikipedia)

Località S. Paolo Pieve, 23, Pieve San Paolo - Fivizzano

St. Paul Parish of VENDASO

The parish church of San Paolo is located a short distance from the Borgo di Vendaso, in the municipality of Fivizzano, along the road that passed through today's Passo dell'Ospedalaccio on its way to Parma and Reggio. The earliest evidence of the parish is given by a bull of Pope Eugene III dated November 11, 1148. It has three apses made of sandstone, while the rest of the structure or consisting of white limestone elements. The church, restored after the 1920 earthquake, has capitals inside characterized by phytomorphic elements, concentric circles, intertwining, animals and enigmatic figures.

(bibliography: "From Luni to Massa Carrara - Pontremoli, the becoming of a diocese between Tuscany and Liguria from the 4th to the 21st century" - web- rete toscana .it -wikipedia)

Via Crespiano, 25, Comano MS, Italy

Parish CRESPIANO S. MARIA ASSUNTA

The diocese of Luni had in this territory the parish church of Crespiano, restored several times, with a beautiful rectory house attached and an important bell tower, dating from the sec. XI. On the second floor of this tower-according to a usage of the time-a small room was intended to house a chapel, of which the small apse with its single-lancet window remains. It was probably at the time of the bell tower's construction that an important and very rare epigraph dated 1079, now kept in the sacristy, dates back. Documents of this kind are very rare; the plaque was originally on the outside and was intended to remind posterity of the great undertaking of the restoration and perhaps the construction of the bell tower, but also - proudly - the name of its author: "In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1079, when this church was restored, Master Oto made me."

Taken from "Lunigiana Quality 2007," text by Riccardo Boggi

(Photo by Davide Papalini

Via della Garfagnana, 13, - Codiponte (Casola in Lunigiana)

Parish of SS. CORNELIO AND CIPRIANO

The parish church of Codiponte, in the municipality of Casola in Lunigiana, is among the most fascinating and artistically rich in the territory of the ancient Diocese of Luni; with its figured capitals, its austere and balanced form, and its artistic masterpieces, it is a true paradigm of Lunigiana Romanesque architecture. The pieve stands on the right bank of the Aulella, near a bridge beyond which the ruins of the 11th-century castle of the Bianchi d'Erberia can be seen in the distance. We are in an area rich in prehistoric finds and stele statues, a strategic area of passage as the place name also testifies. Along this road axis the Romans connected Luni with Lucca and, further north, with Veleia and Piacenza.

While excavations in the area have revealed on the same site where the pieve stands today traces of Ligurian (7th S. B.C.) and Roman frequentation, the earliest documentary mention is pre-Carolingian (793); this historical phase is evidenced by the octagonal baptismal font base from the 8th century, which shows that the church was already baptismal before it became a pieve.
Mentioned several times in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in the late Middle Ages and in the post-medieval and modern ages the pieve played a central function in the religious organization of the upper Aulella valley. Mentioned in the Decimes of the late 13th century and in the Estimi of 1470-71 it extended its cope from Vinca to Spicciano in the Lucido, Aulella and Rosaro valleys.

The church has a three-aisle basilica plan with perfectly preserved columns and round arches and notched cubic capitals bearing figures typical of the medieval image system. Symbolic images with didactic, didactic, and theological significance that unfold a rich repertoire: palmettes, tree of life, lily, six-petaled daisy; telamon, praying man, man blowing two horns, rampant beasts, camel, birds, snake with feet, bicauded siren.

The roof is trussed, redecorated in the 1900s; a monolithic medieval baptismal font with a cross and figures of children in swaddling clothes carved in bas-relief on the base are visible in the south aisle. Also on the south side, outside, is a beautiful portal with medieval symbols, probably the original portal of the parish, later disassembled and reassembled in a different position.

Also of interest is the late medieval triptych with the Virgin Enthroned, Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian titulars of the church, and the image of the Holy Face, a famous and revered Lucchese relic, which reminds us of the passage, in these very places, of the Way of the Holy Face.

The church, remodeled and decorated from the 1500s onward, was restored to bare stone in the late 1800s and restored again in the early 1970s when archaeological tests were also conducted, giving us the most information about the site. At this stage the minor apse was completely reconstructed.

The bell tower, once to the left of the chancel (where the base remains), was rebuilt in 1778.

(From Francesco Bola: Tourism in Lunigiana https://turismoinlunigiana.it/scheda/pieve-di-codiponte/)