{"id":7748,"date":"2016-08-01T17:12:43","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T15:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/msntest.unipi.it\/nei-dintorni\/?lang=en"},"modified":"2020-02-25T11:54:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T10:54:49","slug":"in-the-environs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.msn.unipi.it\/en\/in-the-environs\/","title":{"rendered":"In the environs"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are in\u00a0Valgraziosa<\/strong>, a small land of Tuscany.
\nCalci is nestled at the bottom of the Monte Pisano, overlooking on the Arno\u2019s valley, staring at the sea on the horizon.
\nIn the hillside chestnut trees and olive trees are the overlords, merging with wide tract of Mediterranean scrub and pine grove.
\nIt is a varied landscape, natural or grown by men, but genuine as well.
\nIt is the land of the olive tree and of the oil.
\nCalci shows a little-known Tuscany area, consisting in rural parish churches, in hermitages and cloisters, in fortresses and monastery, in large country houses and steading farmhouse, in mills and olive oil mills, in paths among the mountains and bikeways in the valley.
\nIt is a town consisting in a center -the Pieve (meaning parish church)- and several hamlets: Montemagno, Tre Colli, Villa, Il Colle, Castelmaggiore, San Donato, Nicosia are all places were the soul finds itself and man interact strictly with the surrounding nature.
\nIn the hearth of the country stands the greatest\u00a0parish church<\/strong>\u00a0of the area, dedicated to the Saints Giovanni and Ermolao and built between 1.080 B.C. and 1.111 B.C. in Romanesque style of Pisa.
\nSmaller, in Romanesque style as well, there is the\u00a0San Bernardo Church<\/strong>, on the way climbing on the Monte Serra.
\nIn\u00a0Nicosia<\/strong>, instead, a cloister from the second half of the XIII century stands out: although it is partly abandoned nowadays, the atmosphere of the past life is still present.
\nFrom the cloister starts a path that climbs to the\u00a0Rocca della Verruca\u00a0<\/strong>(Verruca\u2019s stronghold): from this site, when the sky is clear, you can admire the whole Arno Valley, the sea and the islands too.
\nIn addition to this one, many paths go through all the Valgraziosa and the Monte Pisano, linking Calci to the nearest towns: by pleasant hiking by foot, by mountain bike or by horse, it is possible to reach, for example,\u00a0 the\u00a0Torretta di Caprona\u00a0<\/strong>(the small tower of Caprona), the\u00a0San Michele archeological digs<\/strong>\u00a0under the\u00a0Verruca, to arrive to the\u00a0Campo Lake<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 where a naturalistic route shows the flora and the fauna of the area, and to get to the\u00a0Fonti di Asciano<\/strong>,\u00a0Vicopisano<\/strong>,\u00a0San Giuliano Terme<\/strong>\u00a0or even\u00a0Pisa<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Lucca<\/strong>. A way to learn about the flowers and the trees, aromatic herbs and mushrooms, or simply enjoy the landscape and the walk.<\/p>\n\n\t\t