Monte Pisano

Monte Pisano - The history

Over the centuries, man has shaped the beauty of this slow-paced land, enriching it with terraced olive groves and fruit-bearing groves, creating agricultural landscapes amidst the natural woodlands. Some of the numerous olive and chestnut mills are still active on both sides of the mountain. Evidence of these agricultural practices is preserved in the small museum of rural culture "La Ruota" in San Leonardo in Treponzio and in the Athena Museum in Capannori.

Bone fragments and artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic are the earliest evidence of human settlement. Black bucchero artifacts indicate the presence of Etruscan populations, Latin toponyms for many towns, and traces of the Roman centuriation of the surrounding plain.

During the Lombard era, the shady woods and natural caves were the ideal place to shelter the first hermits and those who chose a contemplative life in the numerous hermitages where Saint Augustine and Saint Francis are said to have stayed. They also built small parish churches and Romanesque churches, erected villages, fortresses, and castles that still dot the hilltop and the immediate plain. Later, monumental villas were built that hosted the aristocratic families of Pisa and Lucca on their country estates.

Of the large convent complexes that remain at the foot of the mountain, on the Lucca side, the large building of the Badia di Cantignano of very ancient origins, once a refuge along the Via Francigena and on the Pisan side the Charterhouse of Calci, which dominates the small town, which hosts a famous Museum of Natural History and Certosa National Museum.

The quintessential flavor of this mountain is undoubtedly its EVO oil. The diverse terrain and exposure are evident in the diverse flavors and color nuances of the oil produced in these lands, the result of environmentally friendly cultivation methods and technologies. The olives are still hand-picked, neither too unripe nor too ripe—that is, when the color changes from green to black—and pressed within 24 hours. This oil's flavor is fruity, sweet, and tangy. Its golden yellow or green color, depending on the harvesting area, has long been appreciated in international cuisines. Modern mills, using technology applied to ancient knowledge, cold-press the olives, maintaining a low temperature during processing to preserve the precious elements of this food. Try the Frantoiana soup to believe it.

Alongside the most Mediterranean of flavors, tea. The Cattolica nursery grows the first Italian tea, imported from China, along with the other splendid camellias that adorn the parks and gardens of the Compitese, a small valley on the Lucca side.

The colors of craftsmanship are the bright and festive ones of Vicopisano ceramics. Here too, manual skill, passion, and patience are the elements that transform clay into artistic artifacts. Domestic use is the predominant one: jars, wineskins, plates, various tableware... From the simple manufacture of the first sixteenth-century kilns, this art has over time been refined and enriched with colorful and complex decorations where the natural elements of fruit and flowers are combined with ribbons and rich scrolls, cheerfully accompanying everyday table settings.

Monte Pisano - Nature

Monte Pisano is an interesting observation point for the local geological history and that of the upper Tyrrhenian Sea.

Sandstone and limestone alternate, creating diverse landscapes in a very limited space. In these reliefs near the Apuan Alps, limestone outcrops predominantly, a "poor" relative of the more precious marble, used in many of Lucca's churches and forming landscapes common to Corsica, Liguria, and Sardinia.

This porous limestone subsoil quickly absorbs water, and on the surface, the soil supports a rather sparse vegetation. The small plants with tiny blooms may be visually jarring due to their apparent ruggedness, but in certain seasons they delight the sense of smell with refined and unusual aromas. Myrtle is the most common shrub, accompanied by cistus, rare ferns, the highly fragrant helichrysum, sunny broom, precious orchids and euphorbias, and beautiful camellias, brought from the East along with rich cargoes of silks and spices and other ornamental plants.

Within the perimeter of Monte Pisano there are numerous protected natural areas that can be visited, including the Bottaccio and Gherardesca Oases on the Capannori side, which, during the transition seasons, welcome large flocks of migratory birds.

On the wetter slopes and in the small valleys, however, the Mediterranean forest is dominated by holm oak, accompanied by holly and butcher's broom with its beautiful Christmas berries, the fragrant inflorescences of elderberry, and the strawberry tree that colors the autumn forest with its large red drupes. The undergrowth is populated by wild boars and shy porcupines. Out of the corner of your eye, you can catch the quick movements of dormice and squirrels in the trees, and in the higher branches, jays, thrushes, hoopoes, and tawny owls.

The Hermitage, the Lion's Cave, the Tasso Cave, the Thieves' Hole, the Fairies' Hole, the Sugheretta Peak, the Lake Hole, and the Tabletop Hole are the fantastical names of the caves that open into the massive limestone. Carved out by rain, they give rise to karst phenomena and fantastic underground landscapes much loved by speleologists. At the bottom of many cavities, the waters still form small, evocatively transparent lakes. In these evocative landscapes, even the water takes on singular properties in the form of miraculous drops that relieve headaches and other ailments. Pliny the Elder, Queen Margherita, and the poet Ugo Foscolo were already cured with the "calidae acuae" from the San Giuliano springs. The "balneum et fontanam" of Uliveto enjoys a similar fame, mentioned in a document from the year 1000 that praises the health-giving virtues of its water.

Monte Pisano is very rich in underground waters that return to the surface to feed, in addition to the thermal spas, the historic aqueducts of Pisa and Lucca and the fountains of their respective cities.

934 equidistant arches made of mixed masonry of brick and stone, covering the 6 kilometers from the Bottino di San Rocco in the Valle delle Fonti, up to the city walls of Pisa, constitute the Medici aqueduct that the Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici had built, inspired by the proven hydraulic technique of the ancient Romans.

The second, with 413 arches, 14 fountains, and 56 springs, built in the 19th century by royal architect Lorenzo Nottolini, is one of the most interesting modern architectural works in the Lucca plain, a "monument" in the countryside. On a small bridge near the springs, an inscription records the completion date of the work, 1836. Everyone in Lucca knows this place as "the golden words." The water from these springs, one of the best low-mineral waters in the area, is preferred by many Luccans to bottled water.

Monte Pisano - sports

Thanks to its proximity to the Tyrrhenian coast, Monte Pisano enjoys a mild climate all year round. Outdoor activities are always available: hiking, mountain biking, or horseback riding.
The entire territory is crisscrossed by a dense network of trails that pass through protected areas of great scenic, botanical, and geological interest. These trails offer simple walks through agricultural landscapes of terraced olive groves and chestnut groves, or more challenging treks with breathtaking views.

Thermal breezes invite the thrill of paragliding, while the cliffs and bare rock faces offer excellent climbing opportunities. Finally, everyone can enjoy the relaxing Santallago meadow, near the summit of Mount Serra.