Valdarno
The valley of the river Arno is an unusual territory. Close to Arezzo the river turns back on itself and heads north, following the gentle valley with it’s ridges eroded to a point by the rain. In recent years numerous Etruscan sites have been discovered, one of which lies south of Figline and dates back to the 6th century b.c.
‘La Cassia’, the old road which joined Rome and Florence, passed through this region and the main north-south motorway, ‘l’Autostrada del Sole’ and the Rome-Florence rail link follow much of the original road.
Today the Arno Valley is home to many shopping outlets. The famous Dolce&Gabbana outlet is at Incisa, whilst at Reggello you will find ‘The Mall’, dedicated to Armani, Gucci, Ferragamo, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino and La Perla and many others.
The Abbey at Vallombrosa is certainly worth a visit. Located in the wonderful Vallombrosa forest and cared for over the centuries by the Benedictine monks it became a Natural, Biogenetic Reserve in 1973.
The lower part of the Arno Valley stretches out west of Florence to Pisa and the mouth of the Arno. This area is marked to the north by Versilia and the plains round Lucca, to the east by the plains of Empoli and to the south by gentle, olive covered hills. Here you will find many interesting medieval towns and villages such as Calci, San Miniato and Vicopisano which still bear witness to their great, romanesque past. Vicopisano was at the centre of many battles for the domination of this territory and today you can still part of the castle, dating back to 1330. A visit to Pisa and the incredible Leaning Tower, Piazza dei Miracoli and the Piazza dei Cavalieri is certainly not to be missed.
Not far from the mouth of the Arno on the pisan coast is the beautiful Basilica di San Piero a Grado. Whilst the town of Montopoli in Valdarno offers a perfect example of medieval architecture. In fact the church of San Pietro a Mosciano and il Cassero date back to 746. Il Cassero was one of the most important castles in the Arno Valley due to its strategic position and its imposing structure. In 1512 Niccolò Machiavelli, the famous writer and philosopher, was a guest at the castle.
This area is rich in culinary tradition - extra virgin olive oil, varieties of wine, from the Valdarno Superiore to the Chianti, typical local products such as the Finocchiona (fennel seed salame), ham from Pratomagno, boar and deer and a famous dish made with tripe called ‘Lampredotto’ to name but a few……
The Arno Valley offers too an incredibile choice of nature. San Giovanni Valdarno is home to the nature park ‘Cavriglia’ which can be explored on foot, on horse or by bike and covers an area of over 600 hectares of chestnut and beech woods and home to many types of deer. Continuing in the direction of Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni you will be enchanted by the incredible landscape of the Balze. The villages in this area still preserve their ancient towers and castles and have names which ring of Etruscan times - Loro Ciuffenna, Gropina and Cennina can be found in this incredible, fascinating landscape of gullys and ridges - often part of the background in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces. Just a few kilometers on you reach the Nature Reserve of the Valle dell’Inferno e di Bandella which covers an area from the council districts of Terranuova Bracciolini, Pergine Valdarno, Laterina and Montevarchi and has woods with oaks, willows and black poplars. This tour comes to an end just outside Arezzo at the Nature Reserve of Ponte Buriano e Penna.
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