The best traffic-free bike rides around Comano

The Castle of Bagnone is an ancient fortified structure located on the highest hill of the medieval village of Bagnone, in the historical region of Lunigiana (province of Massa-Carrara). Today, the original medieval structure has almost entirely disappeared: the only surviving and perfectly preserved element is the imposing cylindrical stone keep, which towers over the settlement and is integrated into the 19th-century Villa of the counts Ruschi-Noceti.

Medici Fountain

The 12th century village built on the ancient “Strata Lizane” The village of Licciana, now the capital of the municipality of Licciana Nardi, dates back to the 12th century. It was built with the particular architecture of sandstone portals that distinguish it. The village is located in a particularly narrow part of the Taverone Valley. A place of primary importance for the direction of the valley floor transit already from the ancient “Strata Lizane” or “Via dei Linari” that connected the Apennines to the middle Val di Magra. The choice of the construction site was not accidental, the purpose of its construction was twofold: on the one hand the function of military barrier and on the other to act as a guard post for the Abbey of Linari.

This place is characterized by a depression on the stream that over the years has created a real basin with crystal clear waters. Once you reach the stream you will find two fairly large but low pools, if you continue down the stream you will find the waterfalls and even further down the basin, near an ancient stone building right on the river.

The Borgo di Virgoletta is located in the municipality of Villafranca and was known as the “Verrucola dei Corbellari”, narrow and elongated to follow the crest of the hill, closed to the north by the large mass of the castle-palace that later belonged to the Malaspina; in the center of the village is the church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio with the bell tower, which a plaque informs us is 31 meters high, restored in 1953. The entire village offers itself almost like a treasure chest. As soon as you enter the door that looks towards Villafranca, here is the majesty placed in 1636 “for his devotion” by Andrea Rossi who entrusted his prayers to San Rocco and the Virgin with Child. From here to the castle is a succession of houses of medieval typology, with sandstone portals, often elegant, which still highlight the commercial past that the village had in the Middle Ages. An elaborate 16th-century oval-shaped coat of arms in marble informs us that the castle belonged to the Malaspina dello Spino Secco family.

Bagnone Castle is located on the highest hill and is clearly visible as soon as you enter the town. It is dominated by an imposing cylindrical stone tower, crowned by corbels of the plumbing system with archers and larger openings framed by frames. The tower remains the only surviving structure of the castle, which has now completely disappeared and is partly incorporated into smaller buildings of the villa of the Counts Ruschi-Noceti. The castle is privately owned and cannot be visited.

Called the town of a hundred villages, for the numerous hamlets that compose it, it has ancient origins even if it acquired importance first with the Malaspina family in the Middle Ages and then with the Medici in the Renaissance, the latter called it the 'beautiful corner of Florence. It preserves an important historical center, protected and enclosed by the Medici walls, erected by Cosimo I in 1540, where there is a succession of noble palaces that flow into the Medici square, characterized by the elegant baroque fountain in marble and pietra serena, which overlooks the church dedicated to Saints James the Apostle and Anthony from the 14th century and enlarged in the 16th, with three naves marked by sandstone columns and with inside a beautiful baptismal font bearing the coat of arms of the Spino Fiorito of the Malaspina.

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