Lunigiana & Magra Valley

Santo Stefano Magra

Leaving la Spezia, passing the slope of Buonviaggio you will see on the hills "Valeriano" and above all the antique "Vezzano Ligure" that appears above the river "Magra", on a lonely hill, "Bolano" directed towards the "Lunigiana". 
Once crossed the river you arrive at S. Stefano Magra (with a church from the 17th century) from where you can reach from one side the Lunigiana taking the antique street of "Cisa", and from the other side Sarzana and the Magra valley. 
The quality's valorization and the potentiality of the Lunigiana are part of an initiative for a larger project which is called "Vetrina Toscana" wanted by the Region Tuscany which supports this project with a proper Regional Law.
The idea is to promote the quality products' commercialization. These products can be bought in the shops which are nearby the Lunigiana. In this way the vitality of the so called minor distribution net, which anyhow plays a fundamental role as far as hospitality, service and quality of life are concerned, is sustained. In fact in the Lunigiana there are a lot of small shops where the residents and the tourists can buy specialties of this marvelous place.

The Magra Valley, the heart of this historical region called Lunigiana, seems to the traveler, who comes down from the Cisa, a big amphitheater which in spring and summer is luxuriant of green whereas in autumn shows the thousands of colors of its endless woods. In winter the white marble peaks of the Apuan Alps are changed for the white snow of the Apennine chain. The nature presents a surprising variety of landscapes which are beyond suspicion: the high grasslands with a moor of bilberry and the pastures where the sheep "zerasca" lives; the hills with the olive trees, the vineyards, and some villages dominated by the severe profile of hundred and more castles; the bottom of the valley with the river Magra which - according to Mario Tobino - winds itself like a silver eel, with water abounding in fish where you can still swim.

This is an antique landscape, crossed by a lot of well-known people in the Middle Ages: In 994 Sigerico passed by, taking the via Francigena, which in the Magra Valley reached the path for San Jacopo of Compostela and from which the street "Volto Santa" leaded to Lucca. 

Here, between the steep mountains, the Romans fought a lot before winning against the population "Liguri-apuane" which had built their idols in stone 
(warriors and women with prosperous breast - today they are in the museum of Pontremoli) as kind of guards for their streets and grazing. Here, during the last world war, the antique streets and the woods saw the war's horrors, heroic partisan enterprises, the countryside's populations' generous hospitality towards the people who had left the city.

The hospitality in Lunigiana is holy: this was experienced by Dante: welcomed by the Malaspina, a big family who has influenced a lot the feudal architecture in a myriad of small feuds which surrounded the elegant cities of Pontremoli and Fivizzano. 
A generous landscape which offers a lot of products: its pleasant wines have already been famous in the past for the delicate aroma deriving from a big variety of vines. 
The woods of chestnuts give a valuable flour, milled in water mills, whereas the wood is full of mushrooms, bilberries and raspberries. The olive tree, that grows under difficult conditions, creates an oil that was also appreciated by Francesco Petrarca, and which can be found in high-quality shops.

In Lunigiana you have to be open for the scenes of the nature and the historical landscapes, for the meetings with the people from the Lunigiana, but above all for the discovery of the pleasures of this region's kitchen. Wherever you have a rest, if you order a traditional local dish, you will realize that the old saying "you will get to know the people's soul, discovering the tastes and flavors, and the colors of its kitchen" is true.

Sarzana and the Magra Valley

Sarzana, small city with a very beautiful aspect, with a cathedral that constitutes a real collection of the art's history - testimony of the styles "Romanesque Gothic" and "Baroque", and which conserves precious paintings. 
It is worth to spend some time in Sarzana also for other historical buildings: the Churches, S. Andrea, San Francesco, the Church of the Capuchins, the palaces (Palace Picedi with remarkable gate in brass) and the castles (the Fortress of Firmafede and the castle of Sarzanello ordered by Castruccio Castracani), and the towers. 
The city is well-known for its famous craftsman workshops for antique trade and repair. In August the National exhibition of Antique Trade and the "Soffitta nella Strada", a real and proper show of antique trade take place in the city's streets. Continuing, you will reach the Via Aurelia, which leads towards Tuscany. 

The first important villages after Sarzana, close to Carrara, are Castelnuovo Magra (rest of the Malaspina castle, where Dante - lawyer of the Malaspina - signed the peace with the bishop of Luni in 1306); Ortonovo, with its narrow streets and Nicola, a very antique village. 
In the surroundings, destination of pilgrimage, the sanctuary of Mirteto. 

The most important artistic and historical memories are at Luni with its Roman amphitheater, the rests of the antique city and the Archeological Museum, restructured in 1988, but the search for the Romans' heritage continues.