Looking across the Lima valley from Lugliano.
Thursday photo
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Tag Archives: Lugliano
Then and now…Lugliano
Then…
Now…sorry about the car. I waited a while but it wasn’t going anywhere.
The water fountain is still there.
Lugliano hasn’t changed much at all in this area. It is a lovely village with some great views.
A winter walk through Lugliano
Lugliano is one of the beautiful high villages of Bagni di Lucca. I visited on a sunny winter day. Come with me for a walk through Lugliano.
The first thing you see as you arrive in Lugliano is the campanile of the church.
Here is what the church looks like from the front.
Beside the church is a very impressive sculpture.
The road from here is fairly flat for a while before it begins to rise quite steeply. Just before the rise is a set of old laundry tubs. I wonder how long it is since they have been used.
A little further on is a little chapel with a pretty ceiling.
There are always cats enjoying whatever sun is available.
I love the bare trees in winter.
Higher up in the village is another laundry area.
There are some grapevines waiting patiently for spring.
…a beautiful corner.
…an old car packed and ready to go…complete with rain protection.
From the top there is a great view back over the village.
The views across the valley are amazing.
At the end of the village is a ridge with some wonderful old buildings and planted terraces.
I hope you all visit Lugliano and take a leisurely walk to the top and back.
The village looks wonderful from below on the road out.
Click here for a different look at Lugliano in early summer.
Meet Catia from Giocondo in Lugliano
I joined Heather Jarman’s group recently to visit the farm of Catia and Maurizio Citti in Lugliano. Giocondo has 20 hectares of land with chestnut trees, olive trees and various crops. The main attraction was their herd of Cinta Senese pigs.
Cinta Senese is an ancient breed of Tuscan pig. They have been raised in the area for centuries. After almost becoming extinct, the breed is now being bred again. Unlike normal pigs which are usually intensively bred, Cinta Senese are kept in large outdoor pens and fed a diet as close as possible to their preferred diet of acorns and food from the forest floor.
They are prized for their excellent flavour. Catia makes her own prosciutto, sausage and other pork products. Once you try salumi from Cinta Senese you will be spoiled forever.
As well as the pigs, there are cows and sheep bred for their milk to make cheese, and donkeys just for fun.
Catia also grows apples, pears, figs, strawberries, raspberries and chillies to make jams and preserves.
While Catia was preparing our delicious lunch I wandered around the forest on the property.
The views from the property are spectacular.
Lunch was prepared using only local products. First we had porcini mushrooms with polenta and pecorino cheese made by Catia.
Next was prosciutto, salami and a mature pecorino with onion jam and chillie jam, and crostini with lardo and sausage with stracchino.
Catia had also made a cake for us, which she served with a blueberry sauce.
Take a look at Giocondo’s website to see all the products they produce. I don’t know when they sleep.
Thank you Catia (right) and Heather for a fun day.
Meet Daniela and Mauro from Lugliano
Lugliano is on top of the hill in the photo….that little bump with the tower beside it is the main part of the village. You can just see a row of houses along the ridge.
Daniela and Mauro are the parents of my lovely friend Paolo, so they were the obvious choice for me to talk to about Lugliano, the village that sits high above Ponte a Serraglio, just a few kilometres drive up the winding road behind my apartment.
Daniela and Mauro live in a beautiful house with a great garden that keeps Daniela busy.
They have a spectacular view over the surrounding mountains from their terrace.
Mauro makes beautiful wood carvings which he sells from a pretty little shop in Ponte a Serraglio.
Mauro and Daniela met in the village, not very far from where they now live. I took a walk along the ridge where Lugliano sits and up the hill to the little cluster of houses there.
The church at the start of the village.
Keeping watch over Lugliano.
A beautiful view.
The little road winds up the hill to the main part of the village.
Come for a walk around Lugliano.
The views over La Villa, Ponte a Serraglio and beyond are wonderful.
Lugliano looks good from below as well.
Say hello Mauro and Daniela at their shop in Ponte a Serraglio in the summer months. It is beside the Bar Italia.
Bella Bagni di Lucca 