The Area

The road up to Re Piano is well known as a Giro d’Italia route, and it is a natural training ground for Italian champions and many others besides.

We are close to the Casentino Forests and the Vena del Gesso park.

From here you can follow waymarked trails through the woods on horseback or on foot, or ride a mountain bike up to 1,000 m above sea level – heights you can also reach by car on well-kept gravel roads with splendid views, which in summer offer a welcome and unexpected coolness.

For information and organised excursions, visit www.parcoforestecasentinesi.it, or, if you are interested in palaeontology, the so-called “Vena del Gesso” (gypsum vein) at www.venadelgesso.it.

Modigliana

Modigliana is the town that is home to our agriturismo.

This small town has countless historical and religious landmarks. The first to greet visitors, with all their evocative power, date from the early Middle Ages, such as the Rocca dei Conti Guidi, the fortress of the Guidi counts known as “La Roccaccia”. At the beginning of the last century a vertical split brought down its western half, exposing a cross-section of its huge inner rooms – which, far from spoiling it, has ended up heightening its sense of grandeur.

The town is rich in other historical sights too: the ancient Piazza Pretorio, with its art gallery, historical archive and old palazzi; the “Ponte della Signora”, an 18th-century bridge with a distinctive humpbacked shape; the unusual “Tribuna”, made up of two bell towers, which once marked the entrance to the castle; and the “Convento dei Cappuccini”, a Capuchin friary standing on the site of the first Roman settlement in the area.

Modigliana is the birthplace of many illustrious figures: Don Giovanni Verità (1807-1885), famous for his liberal ideas and his close friendship with Giuseppe Garibaldi, who passed along these very roads while fleeing the Austrians; Silvestro Lega (1826-1895), a painter and one of the leading figures of the Macchiaioli movement; the soprano Pia Tassinari (1903-1995); and the composer and musician Alfeo Gigli.

Not forgetting the partisans led by Silvio Corbari: Spazzoli, Casadei and Iris Versari.

All year round there are plenty of events that draw locals and visitors alike.