Travel Notes
In Vorno, just a few miles away from Lucca and its Walls, I Santinelli is the ideal place for a perfect holiday if you are looking for calm and relax, but also for fun and discovery. Our guest house is just in the middle of a territory rich in history, nature, art and culture: you can drive to Lucca, Pisa, Versilia’s golden beaches and the Apuan Alps in a few minutes only. Florence and the Cinque Terre (some of the most prestigious destinations) are less than an hour away.
You can take a walk around our historic home, exploring a landscape where piers and small medieval villages dominate. You can walk or ride on that part of the Tuscan Via Francigena that runs along the historic Nottolini’s aqueduct: the small hamlet “Parole d’oro” (“Golden Words”) and the village Badia di Cantignano will absolutely charm you. Those who love hiking can cross the Salvalco and Borgognone’s coasts to reach the Borgo delle Camelie, S. Giusto and S. Andrea di Compito.
The small village of Vorno then, is a masterpiece you can’t help discovering. Its foundation dates back to the moment Romans reclaimed the whole valley for the first time, where small settlements arose on the left bank of the Rio Maestro. In the 10th century, the mighty Leone family, imperial and feudal judges of the bishops of Lucca and the Marquis of Tuscany, acquired the whole territory, where they resided with all their descendants, later called “I Nobili di Vorno” (the Nobles of Vorno), until the 14th century, due to the beauty of the territory and the richness of the woods. The valley floor area started to change in the 16th century, when some of the most important Lucca families organized vast properties, creating a more modern and functional farming system and a more productive agricultural production; A typical building started then to spread in area: a structure where the manor house and all the properties, including those buildings destined to productive activities, were surrounded by a stone wall called “chiusa”. Vorno almost preserved its original appearance and, therefore, a patrimony of remarkable historical value in the same extraordinary environment where it was created; a landscape characterized by the alternation of wooded areas and terraces cultivated with olive groves and vineyards, overlooking the plain that extends to Lucca.
Renowned all over the world for its Renaissance palaces, towers and medieval churches that surround its historic center – essentially unchanged in its original design – Lucca boasts about having kept almost intact its beautiful sixteenth Walls; they are in fact still accessible in their entirety and, therefore, the ideal environment for a romantic walk or a bike ride.
You must absolutely visit the famous Amphitheatre square, built by architect Lorenzo Nottolini on the ruins of the ancient Roman amphitheatre: you will be amazed by its perfectly elliptical shape.
You can walk along the narrow and charming Via Fillungo, full of fashionable shops and craft workshops. We advise you to visit one of the many historic cafes to taste the delicious “buccellato“, a sweet bread of pilgrimage memory, stuffed with raisins, whose recipe dates back to the fifteenth century.
You should visit the beautiful church San Michele in Foro, with its white marble façade full of columns and Corinthian capitals. You cannot miss San Martino cathedral, on whose façade you find the bas-relief of a labyrinth, identical to the one you have on the floor of Chartres cathedral in France; it means that this place of worship was one of the fundamental stopovers in the Medieval pilgrimage along the Via Francigena route.
Guinigi tower is one of the most important towers in Lucca and one of the few you can still visit. Its main characteristic is a hanging garden on its top that hosts a romantic holm oak grove.
Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore form the so called “Cinque Terre”. Declared by the Unesco World Heritage Site, they are renowned all over the world for their breathtaking views of houses that seem to grow directly from the cliffs and terraced hills, the trails, mule tracks and dry stone walls that clamber over Liguria’s blue sea and the narrow coast with rocky bays, small pebble beaches and deep sea bottom.
Poets, writers and artists such as Dante, Boccaccio, Lord Byron, Percy B. Shelley dedicated to the Cinque Terre some of the most beautiful pages of all time literature; in Monterosso you even have a Literary Park entitled to Eugenio Montale.
Unmissable stopover in the nineteenth century Grand Tour, Cinque Terre have been one of the most portrayed landscapes in the Macchiaioli’s paintings; Telemaco Signorini was born and lived most part of his life in these brightly colored villages. Still nowadays, it is quite common to see artists and naturalists from all over the world trying to portrait this unique and wonderful landscape using their notebooks, pencils or cameras.
Riomaggiore with its narrow and suggestive streets, the romantic “Via dell’Amore” (Love promenade), the Manarola water mill recently restored by the Cinque Terre National Park, Corniglia with its eighteenth-century Largo Taragio square, the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora di Reggio with its tree-lined square in Vernazza, Fegina beach in Monterosso: these are just some of the places that made Cinque Terre a unique territory.
Last but not the least, their scents and flavours, their oil and wine, like the famous Sciacchetrà, among the finest wines in Italy, Monterosso’s lemons and the aromatic essences that grow spontaneously in every garden.
Versilia offers its visitors equipped resorts and about 20 kilometers of golden beaches and small towns rich in art and history in the hinterland; mild climate all year round, natural parks, cycle paths all along the linear and flat seafront, restaurants, entertainments and nightlife in its clubs and discos.
The first settlements in Versilia date back to the Neolithic; archaeological sites and excavations, Romanesque churches, medieval villages, fortresses and castles testify to Versilia’s long history. Pietrasanta, a city of art well renowned for its sculptures and its many galleries, is a small jewel displayed in its elegant, silent streets. Forte dei Marmi is the ideal place for posh and luxury shopping. You should visit Massarosa with the Lake Massaciuccoli and the Natural Park, Camaiore on the hills with its piers and medieval hospitals; Stazzema and Seravezza in the High Versilia are boast not only natural landscapes but also art and history. The Apuane Alps with their many hiking trails and CAI shelters are the ideal destination for hikers and mountain bikers. Viareggio will amaze you with its seaside promenade, its Liberty style buildings of the beginning of the twentieth century, its traditional Carnival and Puccini Festival that every summer gathers in Torre del Lago thousands of melomaniacs in love with Puccini master works.
The Apuan Alps, also known as “unrepeatable mountains” for the unique and evocative views they offer, are the only place on Earth where you extract the white Carrara marble, one of the most renowned and refined marbles. Michelangelo sculpted his famous David in a block of stone extracted from the historical Fantiscritti quarry that has now become a museum.
But the Apuan Alps are not only marble and quarries. With their sharp edges, dizzying walls, gorges and cliffs, they are the ideal destination for those who love trekking and hiking at high altitudes. Some of the most famous mountains are the Pania Secca and the Pania della Croce, the highest of Panie mountains, which still has perennial glaciers, Mount Tambura that is also quoted in a verse of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Hell cantica), the famous Mount Sumbra, whose shape seems to change depending on the observation point and Mount Forato, with the mystic mystery concerning its “hole”, a natural arch formed during the centuries, through rain and wind erosion. Every year, on June 21st, day of the summer solstice, many enthusiastic people gather at dawn in the fields around the village of Pruno to see the sun rise through this hole. It is an ancient Roman pagan ritual that still fascinates and attracts tourists from all over Italy. Mount Matanna with its green meadows and paths that also non expert hikers can take, is the ideal place for family jaunts.
Last but not the least, the 1946mt high Pizzo della Caranca, the highest of all the Apuan Alps, better known as Pisanino, you can admire from Lake Gramolazzo. They say that this mountain was named after a Pisan soldier who fled to Garfagnana after being accused of betrayal. Wounded, he was sheltered by a local young woman who immediately fell in love with him. The man – who had never revealed his name and was simply nicknamed “Il Pisanino” – died despite her loving cares. The desperate girl buried him in her garden. The legend tells that every teardrop the young girl poured on the grave of the unnamed soldier turned to stone. Stone after stone, in that small garden, the highest mountain of the Apuanes was formed.
Whenever you think of Pisa, you always have in mind the Leaning Tower and the famous Piazza dei Miracoli (Miracles square). Poet and writer Gabriele D’Annunzio was the first one to call it “field of miracles” due to the harmony expressed by its buildings, and the square has been known all over the world by that name ever since. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that it is always crowded with tourists at any time of day and night, in summer as in winter. However, Pisan inhabitants say that dawn is the best time to visit the square, when almost no one is there, and the light filtering through the damp mist of the night, brings out the contrast between the white marble of the monuments and the bright green lawn.
And it comes as no surprise either that the entire site – Tower, Cathedral, Baptistery and Cemetery – has been declared by the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
But Pisa is not only its Tower, as the inhabitants always say. Anyone who decides to visit this Tuscan town must absolutely take a walk on the Lungarni, the riverside walks. You certainly must not miss the Church of Santa Maria della Spina. Known also as the Small Church due to its small dimensions, it is a wonderful example of the Pisan Gothic style dating back to the beginning of 1200. Since 1333, its reliquary holds a spine of Jesus’ crown.
If you walk eastwards along the river, just before the Ponte di Mezzo, on Lungarno Gambacorti, you must absolutely visit Palazzo Blu, the Blue Palace. This historical building takes its name from the unusual “blue sky” color of its 18th century façade. Once Palazzo Giuli Rosselmini Gualandi, the building is now owned by the CariPisa Foundation. Palazzo Blu holds the Foundation’s art collection and some of the most visited temporary exhibitions in Italy. Last but not least, you should visit Piazza dei Cavalieri, so named because it became in the mid-16th century, the headquarters of the Order of the Knights of Santo Stefano. It is nowadays a cultural and educational pole thanks to the Scuola Normale di Pisa, a higher learning institution.
Known all over the world as the Cradle of the Renaissance, Florence has always been a favorite destination for tourists and travelers. Its museums, ancient palaces and churches, house some of the most important art treasures in the world. Just sightsee, day or night. You can start your visit from the wonderful Piazza del Duomo with Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, the Baptistery and the famous Giotto’s Bell Tower. Then walk along Via dei Calzaioli, ideal finest shopping area, until the elegant Piazza della Signoria. There, you find the majestic Palazzo della Signoria, the building the square is named after, ideally staring the river. You can take yourself a picture with the statue of David, which stands just in front of the door, but remember: that one is just a copy, the original one, carved by Michelangelo is in the Academy Gallery. You must absolutely visit the Uffizi Gallery, where you can admire Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera”, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, the wonderful Cimabue’s crucifix, saved from 1966 Arno flood, and many other masterpieces. We kindly advise you to book your visit in time, to avoid the usual long queues. Another museum not to be missed is the Bargello that houses some masterpieces of Donatello, Luca della Robbia, Verrocchio, Michelangelo and Cellini, among the others.
Take the chance to visit two beautiful churches: Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, where you cannot miss Brunelleschi’s cloister, a wonderful example of geometric perfection, realized following the Golden Ratio. You can then cross the river on the Ponte Vecchio with its many jewelry stores and walk to Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Garden. Spend some hours exploring Oltrarno streets: San Frediano area with its taverns and restaurants is the perfect place where you can taste the famous Florentine steak while drinking an excellent Chianti. And if you want to enjoy a privileged view over the city, you must go to Piazzale Michelangelo or maybe reach, on the nearby hill, San Miniato al Monte Basilica, one of the best examples of Florentine Romanesque.
You can take a walk around our historic home, exploring a landscape where piers and small medieval villages dominate. You can walk or ride on that part of the Tuscan Via Francigena that runs along the historic Nottolini’s aqueduct: the small hamlet “Parole d’oro” (“Golden Words”) and the village Badia di Cantignano will absolutely charm you. Those who love hiking can cross the Salvalco and Borgognone’s coasts to reach the Borgo delle Camelie, S.Giusto and S. Andrea di Compito
The small village of Vorno then, is a masterpiece you can’t help discovering. Its foundation dates back to the moment Romans reclaimed the whole valley for the first time, where small settlements arose on the left bank of the Rio Maestro. In the 10th century, the mighty Leone family, imperial and feudal judges of the bishops of Lucca and the Marquis of Tuscany, acquired the whole territory, where they resided with all their descendants, later called “I Nobili di Vorno” (the Nobles of Vorno), until the 14th century, due to the beauty of the territory and the richness of the woods. The valley floor area started to change in the 16th century, when some of the most important Lucca families organized vast properties, creating a more modern and functional farming system and a more productive agricultural production; A typical building started then to spread in area: a structure where the manor house and all the properties, including those buildings destined to productive activities, were surrounded by a stone wall called “chiusa”. Vorno almost preserved its original appearance and, therefore, a patrimony of remarkable historical value in the same extraordinary environment where it was created; a landscape characterized by the alternation of wooded areas and terraces cultivated with olive groves and vineyards, overlooking the plain that extends to Lucca.