ature in the Lunigiana (Tuscany)

Imagine a virgin and uncontaminated territory. Imagine green fields, rolling hills crossed by rivers, beautiful mountains rich in flora and many different species of animals. Welcome to the Lunigiana, where natural parks, woods and gardens alternate in a landscape of harmonious features.

How many times have you seen a virgin territory? When was the last time you happened to walk on uncontaminated land?

Did you know that in the Lunigiana the nightly views of the stars are among the most spectacular in Italy? Yes because the darkness that descends in the evening allows a 360° view of the sky. In “La Brunella” fort in Aulla, you will be able to observe the Moon, Mars, stars and meteorites, wrapped in the silence of the night.

If you are foreign, you will be pleased to know that the Lunigiana, just because it is located in a strategic position, at the intersection between Liguria, Tuscany and Emilia, is close to the great centres of Pisa, Parma and Florence, which thus allows it to be reached easily by air or by train.

If you are Italian, there’s no need to take a plane nor to drive many kilometres to reach this land. Yes, because the Lunigiana is just around the corner, at the intersection between Liguria, Emilia and Tuscany, just a few kilometres from the centres of Pisa, Parma and Florence.

What are you waiting for to discover this authentic paradise immerged in greenery, which will allow you to live an experience indirect contact with nature? In the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, there is indeed an extraordinary natural heritage. Beech and coniferous woods, crystal clear waterfalls, valleys full of lakes and streams, populated by rare species of animals, botanical gardens and large woods of sweet chestnuts follow one another in complete harmony. Besides this, in the Lunigiana there is the Regional Park of the Apuane Alps and the ANPIL (Protected Natural Area of Local Interest) of the River Magra and the Porta lake: more or less demanding pathways are organised here to observe rare or endemic plants and the more common plants that characterise the landscape. Tyrrhenian cornflowers, marine lillies, coastal fennel, water irises, harebells, pedunculate oaks, Apennine primroses and Apuane dandelions are but a few of the many flowers that populate this land rich in flora.

Dominated by the peaks of the Pizzo d’Uccello, besides being famous for its typical bread, the small village of Vinca has a large wood known as “the forest of the talking trees”, in that the enormous and rustling chestnut trees that fill it seem to have human shapes.
Above Fivizzano in the eighteenth century Villa Pescigola there is the most important flowering of narcissuses in Europe: indeed, in spring one can count almost ten thousand examples of the white, highly-scented flowers.

The Antro del Corchia is a limestone cavern, crossed by a series of tunnels with their walls covered by small, regular concavities; stalactites and stalagmites alternate in an environment with extraordinary chromatic richness.

Also the lakes, the rivers and waterfalls represent a real and true natural spectacle: it is possible to plunge yourself completely in the enthralling atmosphere of the Molazzo lake, for instance, taking a dip in its transparent water. Where the Apennines and the Apuane alps meet, one can admire breathtaking panoramas in the peaceful silence of a magic land. Along the road that from Fosdinovo leads to Marina di Carrara, for instance, one has a marvellous spectacle, thanks to the play of light that is created: indeed, the quarries illuminated by the reflection of the sun, plunge the landscape into a particularly surreal atmosphere.

It will be interesting for travellers to discover and affirm that the Lunigiana is a land rich in water: waterfalls, hot springs, wash troughs, fountains and spurts, give the environment a peculiar freshness.

Man and nature seem to have found a perfect balance of cohabitation here. How? Naturally.

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