The ridge of Montalbano
The road that runs from San Baronto, in the province of Pistoia, to Vinci and reaches Carmignano, in the province of Prato, winds with the sweetness that is typical of the Tuscan landscape.
The road crosses the green and blue of San Baronto, Papiano, Porciano, Fornello, Tigliano and arrives in Vinci, which means history of castle and villas, it means Leonardo.
Beyond the Barco Reale here Poggio alla Malva , with its monumental stone door that was and is the entrance to the Barco. And a path between history and present opens up, where history coincides with the ancient one of the Etruscans and often gives the monumental witness to the art of the villas, mostly from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is a path of architecture (necropolis, villas, but also churches and parish churches), and views that deserve a stop.
As in the case of the holm oak of Pietramarina , in which there are holm oaks (quercus ilex) with trunk diameters reaching 1.5 meters. In the hollows of the trunks it is not uncommon to see the shelters of the forest animals. This was an Etruscan inhabited place, as well as Artimino, which in addition to the necropolis dating back to the VIII – VII century BC, currently offers the possibility of visiting the accurate Municipal Archaeological Museum, set up at the Medicean Villa “La Ferdinanda” .
Recommended activities
Walks, trekking, bird watching, cycle tourism, in an uncontaminated natural context, including crops that are also visually integrated into the environment. The proposal of local products is excellent, to be included in an ideal itinerary of nature and taste.
Not to be missed
San Baronto: Fierucola, 1st May;
Art at the fair – Typical market, Saturday and Sunday in conjunction with the penultimate Sunday of August;
San Baronto at the table, last Saturday in August;
Porciano: September Porcianese, week ending with the 1st Sunday of September;
Carmignano: Antiques and second-hand market, 1st Sunday of each month; Feast of San Michele and Palio dei donchi, around 29 September; Antica Fiera, 1st Tuesday of December;
Seano: Antiques and second-hand market, 2nd Sunday of each month;
Bacchereto: Cherry Festival, first two weekends of June; Fig Festival, 1st Saturday in September; Chestnut festival, last two weekends of October.
Comeana: Antica Fiera, 1st Tuesday of July – Antica Rocca, Calici di stelle, 10th August;
Poggio alla Malva: Festival of polenta, porcini mushrooms and wild boar, 2nd and 3rd weekend of September – Sovigliana, Spicchio and Vitolini, Carnival, parades of allegorical floats and masks and fireworks on the Arno;
Spicchio and Sovigliana: Sagra della Chiocciola, end of May, Paesinfesta, sport, music, environment, 3rd week of June.
Win: Leonardian celebrations, from April to June; Lettura Vinciana, at the Leonardo Library, Saturday closest to April 15, Artingegno, 3rd Sunday in May, Renaissance Dinner and taste and culture itineraries in the streets of Vinci “At Leonardo’s Mensa”; Vinci in summer. Summer review of shows, music, theater, cinema and folkloristic festivals, July-September; July Fair, and Flight of Cecco Santi, last Wednesday in July, Calici di Stelle in Piazza del Castello, 10 August; Feast of oil and new wine Flavors and colors of Montalbano, 2nd Sunday of November.
Things to see
San Baronto (Abbey church with crypt), Papiano, Porciano (parish church, castle), Fornello, Tigliano, Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci Museum, housed in the Conti Guidi Castle and in the Uzielli Palace; Church of Santa Croce, Sanctuary of the Santissima Annunziata, Church of S. Giovanni Battista in S. Ansano in Greti, Church of S. Maria Assunta in Faltognano, Church of S. Pietro in S. Amato, Villa Martelli, Villa del Ferrale, Villa Calappiano, Villa Dianella), Vitolini (Church of San Pietro Apostolo), Montalbiolo, Poggio alla Malva (Church of S. Stefano, monumental gate), Verghereto (Church of San Pietro), Bacchereto (Pieve di S. Maria Assunta, Oratory of the company of the Body of Christ), Capezzana (Oratory of S. Jacopo), Santa Cristina a Mezzana (Priory of Santa Cristina), Artimino (Etruscan necropolis of Prato Rosello, Pieve di San Leonardo and Santa Maria, Municipal Archaeological Museum at the Medici Villa La Ferdinanda), Pietramarina (site archaeological and holm oak forest).
