Castle of Malnido (Villafranca) (10) Castle of Lusuolo (Mulazzo) (6)

TOURIST BOARD Lungomare Vespucci, 24 - 54100 Marina di Massa (MS)

Administrative Offices Tel. 0585 240046; [email protected] Information Office Tel. 0585 240063; [email protected] Fax. 0585 869016 www.aptmassacarrara.it www.istitutodivalorizzazionecastelli.it Again a negative name, which has to do with the road. A “mal nido” Another fine castle along the Via Francigena, it was an important Graphics: Studio MAX – Historical notes: we would like to thank Fabio Baroni and Riccardo (bad nest) placed at the head and in defence of a “villa franca” (a defence for the village below and the ancient parish church of S. Maria Boggi for their work – Photo credits: Tourist Board Massa Carrara - Map: Roberto Ghelfi free town), a place of trade, of transit and toll, grown along the Via Assunta, also known as “la Chiesaccia”. The current complex, the fruit Francigena. The statue of Dante Alighieri, recently erected at the foot of a XVII-century refurbishment, is built around a courtyard with a well Motorway exits: of the castle, recalls the frequent presence of the Poet in Lunigiana in the middle and a beautiful portico all around. Nowadays, the castle Exit Massa: to Massa and Montignoso and is associated with travelling. We are in the heart of the land of hosts the Museum of Tuscan emigration, displaying the memories of Exit Carrara: to Carrara and Fosdinovo the Malaspina family. the epoch-making migration of the people of Lunigiana. Exit Aulla: to Aulla, Podenzana, Tresana, Fivizzano, How to get to Mulazzo: Exit A15 Pontremoli; SP 31 for Licciana, Comano How to get to Villafranca: Exit A15 Aulla; S.S. n 62 della Mulazzo, past Mulazzo, watch out for the junction to Lusuolo, Exit Pontremoli: to Pontremoli, Lusuolo Mulazzo, Cisa to Villafranca on the right. Bagnone Info: Information Office Aulla Tel. +39 0187 409474 Info: Information Office Pontremoli Tel. +39 0187 833309 Information Office Pontremoli Tel. +39 0187 833309 Information Office San Benedetto Tel. +39 0187 850607 Public transport (CAT)

Tourist Board Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063 Tourist Board Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063

Tour no. 3: from M. Bardone to Chiesaccia to Bardone M. from 3: no. Tour For public transport: CAT along the Via Francigena Via the along Hotline 800223010

Castles and parish churches parish and Castles DISHES AND FLAVOURS

Castles and parish churches along the Via Francigena Pontremoli - Villafranca - Tresana - Mulazzo NOTES Tour no. 3: from M. Bardone to Chiesaccia

“Mongrel” Lasagne Testaroli If you ask the people of Lunigiana what Italian In the middle Magra valley, people incorrectly call region they come from, they will probably answer: testaroli the panigacci soaked in hot water, but one “we are all pretty much mongrels”, meaning that should known that the real testaroli are those made they are a people of their own, “mixed”, a bit in the area of Pontremoli, cooked in large cast- from Liguria, a bit from Tuscany, a bit from Emilia iron pans heated on the fire until they are red-hot. Romagna. To make testaroli, a handful of kitchen salt and a Just like the Lasagne bastarde or Mongrel batter of flour, water and salt are directly poured Lasagne, a supreme delicacy, a mixture of wheat and chestnut flours in onto a red-hot cast-iron tray. proportions that depend on storage and on the housewife’s pastry-rolling Then the tray is covered with its cast-iron dome, the batter is left to cook for a skills. few minutes and turns into a sort of soft, spongy pancake. Testaroli are ready Home-made lasagne must be made with no more than 25-30% chestnut to be cut into small diamonds and soaked in simmering salty water (turn down flour; those that must be eaten within the day need 50%. The thin pastry is the fire as soon as the water simmers). Leave to rest for two or three minutes, cut into squares, cooked in salted water, then served with extra-virgin olive then drain and serve with extra-virgin olive oil, pecorino or Parmesan cheese oil and Parmesan cheese or with a delicate leek sauce. or a delicate Genoese pesto. Vacuum-packed testaroli can be found in the shops; they are easy to carry around and can even be frozen. Torta d’erbe della Lunigiana (Herb pie of Ready in just a few minutes, testaroli are really a dish of the distant past which Lunigiana). seems perfect for our time-poor age. In fact it should be called torta d’erbi, because in the local dialect edible herbs are declined in the masculine. Cheese: a taste of tradition Go to a farm or to a good restaurant and you’ll In the country during springtime there are still some find excellent cheese made by the local shepherds who make it in its oldest version, with about twenty and breeders as well as by the small local dairies herbs: borage, nettle, bramble tops, primroses, of Fivizzano and Filattiera. Cow’s milk caciotta pansies, hop, old-man’s beard tops, wild chicory, wild fennel, etc. used to be the most widespread cheese: sweet and All year long, the shops sell the type made with the best vegetables (chard, delicate, caciotta is particularly good if used as a onions, borage, leeks, etc.), finely cut and sometimes cooked in cold water stuffing for panigacci and focaccette, but it is also and salt. The proportions of the vegetables (for instance more leek, as in excellent when eaten with the local honey. the traditional Christmas Eve pie) give the pie its unique flavours and notes, In the old times, the ripe cheeses were put in large crates with wheat to keep which also depend on the vegetables in season and the cook’s creativity. them cool before grating them on pasta. When cooked the ancient way, in cast-iron pans with chestnut leaves instead Tradition has it that on the Twelfth Night children used to knock on the doors, of oil, to keep the mixture from sticking, the flavours and taste of these pies wishing Happy New Year and asking for a cheese in return. are really beyond description. Castle of Piagnaro (Pontremoli) (1) Castello di Villa di Tresana (8) A plain, quadrangular- shaped building, 1 in 1400 it was embellished with cylindrical stone keeps at opposing tops. Surrounded by the 2 vegetation and partly covered by climbing ivy, it looks like a 3 fairytale castle. The building is a private residence and 4 has been completely “Chi governa Pontremoli e Regnana è signor di Lunigiana” (He who rules 5 restored by the current owners, who live there in the summer. Pontremoli and Regnana is the Lord of Lunigiana), wrote the people of Lucca in the Middle Ages. A veritable gate and key to the Apennines, 6 Pontremoli has always been at the centre of the trade and exchanges 7 along the Via Francigena, as is also proven by the symbol of the “Maze” How to get to Tresana: Exit A15 Aulla; SS 62 for Pontremoli; in the church of San Pietro. This important medieval town is overlooked 9 8 just out of Aulla, at Terrarossa, in front of the castle, turn left for by the Castle of Piagnaro, which, from high above, used to defend Tresana, then follow the signs for Villa di Tresana. the local roads, becoming an integral part of the defensive system of the town. Today, the castle houses the Museum of the Statues Steles, Info: Information Office Aulla Tel. +39 0187 409474 important remains of the local prehistory. Information Office San Benedetto Tel. +39 0187 850607 Tourist Board Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063 How to get to Pontremoli: Exit A15 Pontremoli. Malaspina Castle in Tresana (9) Info: Information Office Pontremoli Tel. +39 0187 833309 Information Office San Benedetto Tel. +39 0187 850607 Tourist Board Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063 Castle of Malgrate (Villafranca) (3) A tall, wonderful embattled tower can be seen from the plain of Filetto, another fine fortified village, rising above the village of Malgrate. With the castle, it dominates a wide farmland, cut through by important thoroughfares coming from Cisa, the Via Francigena, and from The imposing complex of the castle ruins, waiting to be restored, Garfagnana, the Via del shows up all of a sudden, overhanging the tiny village below. The Volto Santo. A wide variety of illustrious people were born and lived base of a powerful quadrangular tower with barrel vaults and the in the castle and walled village: humanists, such as Bonaventura stumps of two stone keeps are still visible. Pistofilo, and supporters of the Counter-Reformation, such as father Silvestro Landini. How to get to Malgrate: Exit A15 Aulla; S.S. n 62 della Cisa How to get to Tresana: Exit A15 Aulla; SS 62 for Pontremoli; to Villafranca, then turn right for Malgrate just out of Aulla, at Terrarossa, in front of the castle, turn left for Tresana. Info: Information Office Aulla Tel. +39 0187 409474 Information Office Pontremoli Tel. +39 0187 833309 Info: Information Office Aulla Tel. +39 0187 409474 APT Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063 Information Office San Benedetto Tel. +39 0187 850607 APT Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063 Malaspina Castle in Castevoli (Mulazzo) (5) It is one of the multitude of The Church of Santa Maria Assunta castles of the municipality or Chiesaccia (Villafranca) (7) of Mulazzo. This place is Chiesaccia: a negative name, as it extremely ancient: one of the four parish churches Parish church of Sorano - Filattiera (2). happens with other many stopping documented in Lunigiana for Many archaeological excavations have proven that the area must places (ospedalaccio, osteriaccia…), the first time is said to have have hosted a Metal-Age settlement, as is also proven by the maybe to recall some nasty experience, been built here in 998. It statues-steles that have been found near the Parish church, then as the legend has it. Here stood the was one of the systems that a Roman settlement also inhabited in Byzantine and Lombard hospice of Groppofosco, a disturbing defended the area and the times, before the erection, in the Middle Ages, of the wonderful name. Next to the church, the big local roads, on the right bank Parish church of Sorano which has at last been restored. farmhouse is what remains of that of the Magra. Around the end You are at a junction of the Via Francigena, a meeting place, with hospitable place, possibly located on of the last century, the painter and sculptor Loris Nelson Ricci and his wife Erika H. side streets to Lucca (Via del Volto Santo) and to the Genoese a ford where the Via Francigena and End restored it and converted it into an art centre. west. some side roads to Lucca and the Genoese area met. How to get to Castevoli: Exit A15 Pontremoli; SP 31 for Mulazzo, past Mulazzo, at the junction, turn for Castevoli, on the right. How to get to Villafranca: Exit A15 Aulla; SS 62 della Cisa Info: Information Office Aulla Tel. +39 0187 409474 for Pontremoli; just past the junction for Fornoli (on the right), Information Office San Benedetto Tel. +39 0187 850607 How to get to Filattiera: Exit A15 Pontremoli; SS 62 for turn left into the downhill road (a dirt road, a short walk is Tourist Board Massa-Carrara Tel. +39 0585 240063 Villafranca recommended) for Chiesaccia.