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MUSEUMS, CASTLES, CHURCHES AND BRIDGES
The Museo Etnografico “Don Luigi Pellegrini”
called the peasant civilisation, is worth a visit, not only for
the heritage, but also for the superb view from the village where
it is located, San Pellegrino in Alpe.
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 At
1500 metres height, the village offers the best view over the Garfagnana.
The museum is located in a very charming building, a thousand-year
old hospital, built to give shelter to travellers and pilgrims going
to Rome. The museum features more than 3000 items documenting how
people lived, what they ate and how the inhabitants worked on the
mountains of the Garfagnana until about ten years ago.
In the middle of the Valle del Serchio you should visit the Museo
della Figurina di Gesso e dell'Emigrazione, located at Coreglia
Antelminelli,. Here you can see the usage of working the plaster which
had its origins here in Coreglia Antelminelli in the XV century, with
more than 1000 original pieces made by the best artisans between the
XVIII and the XX century. To the plaster you can associate another
phenomenon which has characterised the Garfagnana: the emigration.
The masters worked the plaster at night and in the morning departed
to sell their masterpieces in the nearby villages. A big part of the
exposition features the methods of working the plaster and the making
of plaster figures.
Also visit the Museo del Territorio, in the municipality of
Castelnuovo, where you find prehistoric tools, medieval items and
china from the 16th century from the tower of the Rocca Ariotesca.
The Garfagnana hosts marvellous hermitages, hidden in the heart
of the forests which inspire devotion and testify how deep-rooted
the Christianity was here since the Middle Ages. The most interesting
hermitage is the one of Calomini, in the Valle delle Turrite
di Gallicano. Dedicated to Santa Maria ad Martires, the hermitage
is perched in the wall of a rock , which penetrates 15 metres just
over a ravine. The presbytery, the monks’ cells and the sacristy
are caved in the rock and the hermitage lies on the remains of a primitive
church. From year 1000. The sanctuary grow thanks to the devotion
of the people, who made everything to make the church even more bigger
and majestic. There are no hermits any longer and the hermitage is
today managed by the Capuchin monks from Lucca who, on request, allows
the tourists to stay for a short period.
L'Eremo di Viano, not far from Vagli di Sopra, is a
small sanctuary built around a natural opening in the rock. The legend
tells that a Scottish religious man, Viano or Viviano, stopped in
this cave to dedicate himself to the cult of the spirit. His most
famous miracle was the one to make cabbage grow, which was the main
food for the cavemen and thus chose him as their patron.
The Chiesa di San Pellegrino in Alpe preserves a precious relic
which is still venerated. The mummified bodies of the saints Bianco
and Pellegrino, who spent their lives in the surrounding forests.
In the area of Minucciano you find the Santuario di Nostra Signora
della Guardia, built in the end of the 19th century, and the Madonna
del Soccorso, where three hermits still live.
The populations who have contended the Garfagnana have left many castles
and fortresses all around the territory.
Among the most beautiful medieval fortresses we can name the Fortezza
di Montealfonso, in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, perched on the
top of a hill dominating the village. It is the most important fortress
of the Valle del Serchio, designed at the end of the 16th century,
and preserves the precipice walls, the well, the troops’ premises,
the external ditch and the monumental gate, enlarged and made even
more majestic in the 17th century. Well-preserved and worth a visit
is the Rocca di Ceserana, on the left bank of the river Serchio.
The fortified walls go along the ridge over the village and inside
the walls you can still see the Romanesque church Sant'Andrea,
already mentioned in the papers from the XII century. The actual architecture
of the fortress goes back to the 15th century, when Ceserena became
part of the House of the Este.
Also have a look at the fortificazione di Ghivizzano,
famous for its covered way and the circular tower built by the Antelminelli
family, and the fortress of Cascio, a 17th century citadel
with two round towers. The fortified walls of the Castiglione di
Garfagnana, are also marvellous, which also preserves the watch-towers.
Well-preserved is also the medieval town of Castiglione, where
you find two pearls of religious architecture, the Early Christian
church of San Pietro and the Romanesque church San Michele.
To end, do not miss the Fortezza delle Verrucole, a powerful
defensive complex built in the 16th century at San Romano. Both the
“round fortress” and the rectangular fortress” remain,
connected by two long walls.
The many rivers and streams in the Garfagnana made the people
built bridges, especially along the rivers Serchio and Lima. The bridges
were built close to religious and defensive sites, and the most beautiful
ones are located between Borgo a Mozzano and Castelnuovo.
The Ponte della Maddalena, also called the Ponte del Diavolo
(the Devil’s bridge), which is particular for its high central
arch, is marvellous. And so the remains of the iron bridge over the
river Lima, built in the 19th century with towers. See the remains
of the medieval bridges of Santa Lucia and Madonna which
connect Castelnuovo with the land on the other side of the river Serchio.
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