As hard as it may seem, finding areas in Tuscany that are off the beaten path is still possible.
Even though Tuscany is a very popular tourist destination – which is perfectly understandable since it is so gorgeous! – and places are usually quite crowded in the region, there are still some lesser-known areas that are very beautiful and full of things to see and discover.
One of those areas is Lunigiana, a mainly mountainous region between Tuscany, Liguria, and Emilia-Romagna. Lunigiana runs along the River Magra, from the Apennines to the Mediterranean River, and takes its name from Luni, a Roman town whose name is said to refer to the moon. As a matter of fact, the symbol of contemporary Lunigiana is a crescent moon held in the claw of a bear.
the Malaspina Castle in Fosdinovo
Since I go to Sarzana, a beautiful Ligurian town on the border to Tuscany, every August, Lunigiana has been on my to-be-visited list for a very long time. For one reason or the other, we never managed to go but this past weekend we finally made it: we went to Lunigiana for one day!
The area is almost unknown to mainstream tourism yet is full of things to see. In Lunigiana, there are many little villages worth visiting and most of them have a castle (in fact, there were 160 castles in Lunigiana in the Middle Ages and thirty of them are still in a good state of preservation). Since we had only one day, it was impossible to see everything, so we picked two villages – and a yummy lunch break!
a view of Fosdinovo
Our first stop was Fosdinovo, a Medieval village famous for its castle, owned by the House of Malaspina, ruler of the Duchy of Massa. Fosdinovo is a quintessentially Medieval place, perched on a hill topped by the massive Malaspina castle. With its high walls and towers, the castle is an interesting place to visit if you want to travel back in time – and it also offers breathtaking views over the valley around Fosdinovo!
The village itself is tiny: it has one main street only which corresponds to a section of the route of the medieval Via Francigena and where you can find the Malaspina Theatre, the Mint, the Oratories of the Whites and the Reds, and the church of San Remigio with the late 14th-century tomb of Galeotto Malaspina. Like many other similar villages in Italy, it is nice to walk up and down its alleyways, enjoying the silence and the casual encounter with a local or, most likely…a cat.
eating panigacci in Podenzana
As you know, every area in Italy has unique foods and delicacies that you cannot taste elsewhere, so every tour of a specific location must include a tasting of its local dishes. For Lunigiana, it’s panigacci (thin flat bread made with plain flour, water, salt, and no yeast) and the place where you have to eat them is Podenzana, another quaint and picturesque village in the area. The panigacci are usually served with cold cuts or cheese and, even though their history is old, they are still beloved today.
In fact, there are two famous restaurants where you can have them in Podenzana and, even though we went there on a weekday, they were full of locals enjoying their lunch with panigacci. Thank God, one restaurant managed to find us a table and, while waiting, we enjoyed watching the long process of preparing and cooking this amazing food. If you want to learn more about this delicacy, you can find further information in this very detailed article.
a view of Pontremoli
With our bellies full of panigacci, we headed to Pontremoli, the northernmost municipality in Tuscany and the most important town in Lunigiana. Pontremoli is a beautiful Medieval town located near the confluence of the Magra River and the Verde torrent, in a green plateau surrounded by high hills and mountains.
Defined as the “key and gateway” between northern Italy and Tuscany by Emperor Federico II, Pontremoli was known as an obligatory stop on the Via Francigena since 990. Because of its important strategic position, Pontremoli has long been disputed by many Italian and foreign powers and has been subject to different influences. Its cuisine, for example, is not only Tuscan but has a lot of dishes that belong to the culinary tradition of Parma, which is not that far away.
inside the Museo delle Statue Stele in Pontremoli
In the city, there are a lot of important sights, the most interesting of which is undoubtedly the spectacular Piagnaro Castle, a beautiful and well-preserved fortress, from which you can enjoy a remarkable view of the surrounding valley and the town. Inside the castle is one of the most beautiful little museums I have ever seen: the Museo delle Statue Stele. These statues are male and female figures, carved in stone between the fourth and first millennium BC, characterized by bizarre abstract forms. Many statues of this kind have been found in the area and they became one of the symbols of Lunigiana.
tasting amor in Pontremoli
Needless to say, food is very important in Pontremoli as well and, among other specialties of Lunigiana, the city has its unique recipe: the amor, a dessert consisting of two layers of wafer with a cream whose recipe is secret. They probably come from Switzerland because many Swiss families moved to Lunigiana in the past and the amor was invented in a cafè called Caffè degli Svizzeri, right in the center of Pontremoli.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to visit all the other enchanting villages in the area, so we are thinking of returning and staying there longer. It’s a perfect place for a relaxed holiday far from the madding crowd but also filled with interesting sights and things to discover.
This is just a small part of a beautiful off-the-beaten-track area in Tuscany which is absolutely worth visiting as there is much more to see!
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