The refuge is located by skilifts of Zum Zeri, at 1400m a.s.l.

Along the High Trail Liguria, marking  the border between Tuscany and Liguria regions

Scenic waterfall named after the creek Colombara, merging into Verde creek. Farfarà is instead the name of the farm houses nearby the waterfall, which gives the name to the location. The fall is about 45m high, and runs through a beautiful crack modelled by water stream along the ages. During summers it is possible to bath into the pools below

In Equi village a Thermal center with spas is opened during summer. They are ipothermal waters (around 24°c) with  alcaline-solfite a characteristics. They’re both drinkable waters and skin-benefit

Beware! Slippery path

It’s an Info point (where you can find out more about Lunigiana attractions) as well as rental point for e-bikes

MTB reference point for Lunigiana

To be agreed for support or rental service

The hotel has been open since the late 1800s and is probably, among those still in operation, the oldest in the whole of Lunigiana. More than a century of hotel management is on the shoulders of the Pietrini family, who led it splendidly until 2000: today the management is entrusted to Carmen Martini, who inherited a long experience after having collaborated with Lino and Elena Pietrini for about twenty years. .
The 7 rooms are all equipped with independent bathroom and television

The restaurant of the Albergo La Posta, which has always remained the same, offers traditional Lunigiana cuisine, based on the high quality of the products, almost all of which are locally sourced. As first courses, do not miss the tagliatelle alla boscaiola with mushrooms and fresh vegetables, the meat ravioli, the nettle ravioli, the mushroom soup, a real delicacy that should be enjoyed in small porcelain tureens. Second courses include wild boar alla cacciatora or green pepper, fried or scottadito lamb, vegetable pie with leeks and artichokes and, of course, vegetable pies. The desserts are then prepared directly by Carmen: the pinolata, the grandmother’s cake, the creme caramelle, the coconut and ricotta cake, the pastiera. Good choice of local and national wines.

Of ancient tradition, managed by Ferrari family its restaurant offers typical products of Lunigiana (on top of list: Zeri lamb, then games, green tarts and mushrooms). Seventys restro style, it also offers rooms with breakfast

At Remo’s you’ll find typical dishes of Lunigiana tradition (games and mushrooms). The family is running this local business since several generations, having preserved the know how along decades

Ancient tradition in hospitality, a great variety in Menu where you can taste all the Lunigiana typical dishes. There is also a pool.

Hotel rooms have Wi-Fi

Bergugliara is one of the neighborhoods of Zeri, located in Adelano Valley between Calzavitello Pass and Rastrello Pass. The village has 2 districts across the road and it is characterized by a square bell-tower dedicated to St.Agata

In a green corner with benches and tables amidst trees and rural buildings. A good chance to refresh, eat local (games) or stay for the night (be sure you organize it in advance)

Family Tomà waits for you in Novegigola, in a tranquil place where you can taste Lunigiana flavours

two farmehouses 10 minutes walk apart, on a 25 hectare plot among chestnut, hazelnut, apple trees and a river.
You can easly stroll from one farmhouse to the other on a gentle rural track on foot or by bike.
Ours is a beautiful panoramic setting within 10 minutes walk of the walled medieval town of Fivizzano with bars, restaurants, museums and shops.

Right about the ancient door of entrance to town, by the castle

In Quarazzana village

By the parish of St.Maria in Crespiano, at the rightr of the facade

On the dirt road SP35 coming from “Logarghena”. During summers might be scarce.

A great spot to consider when visiting Lunigiana between Fivizzano and Fosdinovo

Pontremoli has been labeled “Porta dell’Appennino” (the door to the Apennines) for centuries, thanks to its highly strategic position at the junction of the Magra and Verde rivers. It overlooks Francigena street (also known as Monte Bardone street) and the large crowds of passersby, armies and pilgrims that it carried between the north and south of the peninsula.

The area developed along the narrow strip of land dividing the two rivers. A “pons tremulous” (wooden bridge) once crossed the Verde river, and is how the city got its name: Pontremoli. The birth of the settlement is obscure. Although the presence of Ligurian people in the area since early history seems certain, Pontremoli was referred to for the first time in 994 (as “Puntremel”) by Sigerico, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the description of his travels in Italy. The original center of village and castle rose up a few years before, in the middle of the 10th century, around a tower erected on Molinatico mountain’s meridional hill by the Longobarda deli Adalberti family in defense of Hungarian attack. The name Pignaro comes from a nearby slate slab quarry, the characteristic roof material of Lunigianian houses. (“Piagne” means “shingles”).

The advantage of Pontremoli’s strategic position was simultaneously the cause of war and destruction for the city and its castle. Due to the stratification of its walls from continual demolition and reconstruction, today, it’s difficult to clearly identify the fortification’s diverse phases of construction (from the year 1000 to the end of the 1700s) accounting for the structure’s complexity. To call out some of the principal damage: the first destruction took place in 1110 with the passing of Enrico V’s army; the most dramatic in 1495 with the invasion of Carlo VII; and the last during the WWII, during the retreat of the German army, with the allied bombing also responsible for the loss of many buildings in the historic center.

The ancient heart of Piagnaro is its highest point, which rose up around the fortified complex’s principal, 20-meter high, semioval stone tower. It is actually a four-sided figure linked to a semicircle with curved surfaces outside the city walls. The original entry was through a door in the internal facade, almost 10 meters from the ground, reachable by a wooden structure no longer in existence, and protected by a drawbridge of which traces have remained. Some elements suggest that the tower dates back to the 1430s.

Under the tower, a square courtyard defined on the west by a perimeter wall from the late middle ages, and on the south and east by a large building, the result of the unification of several diverse structures that were probably home to the castle’s barracks. The west side makes use of the preexisting perimeter wall and a supporting cylindrical tower.

A second courtyard lies below, with access by means of a ramp leading from a large door. The court, which houses a beautiful sandstone well, is defined on its southern and eastern sides by a perimeter with wallwalk. Its steep, sloping walls were built with a technique similar to that used to construct the tower. An addition on the eastern side includes a protruding defensive apparatus with angled gatekeeper’s room, and most likely dates back to the 18th century. There is a chapel on the northern side, while the western side is made up of an outstretched, two-floor building, home to the Museum of the Luingiana Stone Statues since 1975, and once the residence of the castle’s authorities.

The principal entrance, under a coat of Medicean arms, is down even further. It was once equipped with a drawbridge, reached by crossing the narrow village streets. The castle was “in arms” until 1790, the year that Grand Duke of Tuscany, Pietro Leopoldo, gave the community the last cannon from its battlements. The bronze was used to construct a new bell for the city tower.

In addition to the castle, Ponteremoli has an interesting medieval city center. The village was encircled in walls and well-defended by three fortresses (in addition to Piagnaro, there once were the Cacciaguerra and Castelnuovo Fortresses, of which ruins remain that were incorporated into the urban architectural structures to be touched on later) and six towers: two, in the upper part of the city, flanked Porta Parma; Seratti tower defended the bridge over the Verde river; and three were lined up along the eastern side of the lower part of the perimeter walls (since there was no running river to defend them, they were protected by a moat). Of the six ancient doors that opened into the walls of the city, only 4 remain: the upper, called San Giorgo (now known as Parma door); those defended by two, 14th century, humpbacked bridges, the Cresa and the Casotto (or Busticca), towards the Verde river; and the last, leading to the bridge over the Magra river.

One of the village’s particularities was its division into two distinct centers, one in the mountains and one in the valley, occupied by the Guelfs and the Ghibellines, respectively. In 1322, Castruccio Castracani built the Cacciaguerra Fortress in the autonomous space in the middle, in order to prevent the frequent conflicts between the inhabitants of the two zones. The fortress was endowed with three towers: the central one was converted into the municipal tower (called il Campanone); that on the East, on the Magra River, became the church bell tower; the other on the West, on the Verde river, was destroyed. Subsequently, Pontremoli expanded onto the left bank of the Magra river, where the Castelnuovo Fortress was erected, of which one tower and a door with pointed arch remain.

An old stonehouse completely refurbished, where once found place an old farm.

At the ground floor, where stables used to be, now there is a Restaurant, while up at the first level we have rooms.

Pontremoli is believed to have been first settled around 1000 BC.^[3] It was known in Roman times as Apua.^[4] The commune later became an independent municipality in 1226 thanks to Frederick II who chartered the free municipality, partly because of its mountainous terrain. This terrain in the valley of the Magra also made Pontremoli a target for numerous conquests from rival Italian and foreign lords. Pontremoli was controlled by various aristocratic families, including the Malaspina (in 1319) and the Antelminelli (in 1322). The conflict between the rival Guelfi and Ghibellini factions in the early fourteenth century resulted in the construction of the Great Bell Tower (Il Campanone) to separate the rival camps. During these Medieval times Pontremoli was often visited by pilgrims travelling from Canterbury (England) to Rome.

In 1331 Pontremoli was sold by John I of Bohemia to Mastino II della Scala (Lord of Verona). Pontremoli was later taken over by the Visconti of Milan in 1339. In 1404 the ownership of Pontremoli once again changed hands as it was seized by the Fieschi family of Genoa. However, by 1433 Pontremoli was again under the control of the Milanese. In 1495 Pontremoli was sacked by the troops of Charles VIII of France. During this time Pontremoli was a territory owned by the House of Sforza, who were the new Dukes of Milan.

Pontremoli was a French territory from 1508 until 1522 as several northern Italian areas were conquered. In 1526, Pontremoli was captured by Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. Pontremoli was controlled by Spain until 1647, when it was bought by the Republic of Genoa. Three years later, Pontremoli was made part of the (Medici) Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It stayed as such (with the exception of a period of French control from 1805 to 1814) until Italian unification in the nineteenth century.

With the Leopoldine reforms, Pontremoli became an autonomous community (whilst still part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany) in 1777.^[5] In 1778, it officially became a City.

The area was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1834. In November 1847 Pontremoli was occupied (along with Fivizzano) by the Duke of Modena, due to a dispute over trade routes.

The Stretti di Giaredo have to be seen to be believed. This protected nature reserve stretches for two kilometres across the border of the Pontremoli and Zeri municipalities, walk in and out of the water as well as swimming through pristine pools hemmed in by naturally multicoloured rock faces.

With its 12th century walls still intact, Fosdinovo Castle crowning a hill 550 meters high. The castle still dominates a great part of the Thyrrenian coastline. During the Middle Age its position was ideal to maintain control of the Apennines outlet to the sea and the Lunigiana region, with its roads and mountain pass linking the Thyrrenian coast to northern Italy.
One of the coat of arms walled on the main gate walls.

We have records of the existence of Fosdinovo Castle as fief of the Erberia family since the year 1124, under the direct control of Bishop-Counts of Luni. This arrangement continued until 1317, when the unstoppable rise of the marquises Malaspina, strictly connected with the Ghibelline cause, brought the Episcopal power to a rapid decline and the leader of the family Spinetta Malaspina took possession of the castle. Immediately after Fosdinovo was conquered by the great commander Castruccio Castracani, Lord of Lucca, that besieged the castle with 6000 soldiers and 1000 knights. In the 1334, after the decline of Castruccio, the castle returned into possession of the Malaspina .
The front towards the town with one of the powerful round towers.

At the beginning of the 14th century the Malaspina, now masters of the entire Lunigiana thanks to the help of the powerful family of the Scaligeri of Verona and Enrico the 7th, moved the seat of the family from the nearby castle of the Verrucola di Fivizzano to Fosdinovo, and made the village the administrative center of their lands. The castle was enlarged. The original keep of the 12th century was widened and strengthened with turrets and a new cylindrical tower, ghibelline battlements (with ‘tail of swallow’ form), machicolation on the sides towards the Lunigiana and with towers and ramparts on the side facing the village; inside, the castle became one of the finest nobiliary residences of that time, rich of frescoed rooms. The magnificent inner courtyard was a 16th century addition. Over the main gate, defended by a breteche, is still visible a coat of arms representing a dog holding a plant with thorns (known as “Spino”) in its mouth to symbolize the strong alliance between the Malaspina and the Scaligeri. All around, in the walls are opened gun loops for cannons and other fire arms.

The castle has the reputation of ‘indestructible’ and even the earthquake of 1922, that destroyed great part of the Lunigiana, made no serious damage to its structure. A legend says that the great poet Dante Alighieri passed some days at the castle, an event historically impossible. Another legend is connected with the presence in one of the rooms of the castle of the ‘well of oblivion’: the marquise Cristina Adelaide Pallavicino, bride of Ippolito Malaspina, attracted her lovers into this room and then threw them down in this pit full of blades which ended in a water channel beyond the walls. Most likely the trap was used, but for the elimination of enemies! The castle is still owned by the marquises Torrigiani-Malaspina and managed by the cultural association Lo Spino Bianco [ Info from official website: www.castellodifosdinovo.it]

Known for its history, folklore and strong humanistic culture, Fivizzano is one of the most interesting towns in the Lunigiana. Thanks to its unique characteristics, it’s had many nicknames over the course of centuries: “Celebrated land,” “ the town with beautiful windows,” “beautiful corner of Florence” and “Athens of the Lunigiana”. The town was founded and developed thanks to its role as a rest stop, fundamental before taking on the mountain crossing that divides – not far from here – the road between Lucca and Parma (the historic Via Nuova Clodia).
Read the story of Fivizzano on logo toscana ovunque bella Fivizzano – Lovers and prisoners in the Florence of Lunigiana – Tuscany, Beautiful Everywhere Fivizzano Lovers and prisoners in the Florence of Lunigiana The story of Count Giuseppe Maria Felicini and Don Rodrigo di FivizzanoRead the story

In the Middle Ages, Fivizzano was home to the Verrucola Castle, expanded in the first half of the 14th century by Spinetta Malaspina and which can still be seen today on the hill in front of the town. Governed by the Malaspina for centuries, the village passed into the hands of Florence in 1477, for whom this area – surrounded by the Republics of Lucca and Genoa, the Duchies of Massa Carrara. Parma and Modena and the Marquisate of Fosdinovo – became a strategic centre and an important meeting place for commercial exchanges.

In the town’s splendid historic centre, visitors can see the defense walls built by Cosimo de’ Medici in 1540, as well as the Palace and tomb of the Arcadian Labindo and the beautiful Baroque fountain from 1683, built on the commission of Cosimo III. The large Piazza Medicea is still the centre of life in Fivizzano today, with the provostorial church that was restored after it was severely damaged by a major earthquake that hit the city in 1920.

It may be surprising to learn but Fivizzano hasn’t played a minor role in Italy’s humanistic culture. This is where Jacopo da Fivizzano opened one of the first print houses in the entire country, where the first typewriter ever built was created and used. He’s honoured in the town with the Museum of Printing, housed inside the Palazzo Fantoni, a historic noble residence recovered by the famous Fivizzano-born doctor and writer, Loris Jacopo Bononi. The Accademia degli Imperfetti played an important role in the cultural history of the town. The institution was founded in the 1500s and operated with enthusiasm until the mid-1800s; they were responsible for building the Teatro degli Imperfetti – inaugurated in 1807 and fitted with 600 seats. Lovers of literature shouldn’t miss a visit to the Augustinian complex, with its library, home to a beautiful collection of works coming from the adjacent church; the hospice and, outside, the bronze monument that celebrates the Fivizzano origins of Nicholas V, the pope responsible for creating the Vatican Library.

Just outside the town centre, visitors can admire the Verrucola Castle, built by Spinetta Malaspina and today the residence of the sculptor Pietro Cascella. Once in this area, a visit to the Parish Church of San Paolo di Vendaso is a must, as is one to the village of Soliera, home to the sanctuary of the Madonna dei Colli, and the charming hamlets of Gragnola, Vinca (high up in the Apuans and with unparalleled bread) and Ceserano (known for the farm and vineyards belonging to Conte Picedi-Benettini). The large territory of Fivizzano is also called the “land of one hundred villages” and among these, it’s worth mentioning Equi Terme, a renowned thermal resort with stunning grottos.

Fivizzano is the ideal destination for nature lovers as most of the area is located inside the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park and the Apuan Alps Park. For those who like parks, the Botanical Gardens in Frignoli could be of interest, as would a visit to the mountain village of Sassalbo (the headquarters of the National Park).

For those interested in folklore, visit Fivizzano in the summer, when the town celebrates an exemplary medieval tournament. The origins of the event date to 1571, when Piazza Medicea was the site of a unique challenge between archers from the Terra neighbourhood and those from the neighbourhoods of Guardia, Verrucola, Fittadisio and Montechiaro: the duel consisted of launching an arrow that had to hit a target 30 metres away. Since 1971, this historic tradition has been re-enacted every July, under the name Disfida fra Arcieri di Terra e Corte. This is also when, against the backdrop of the flag-draped town, there’s a fun parade with over 300 people in 16th-century costume, accompanied by flag-throwers, musicians and knights. [from www.visittuscany.it]

Its territory is essentially extending over mountains, on the Apennines side, being Monte Sillara (1891mt) the highest peak. The village sits on top of a rocky promontory, surrounded by oaks, chestnuts and pine forests.

Bagnone gained its importance thanks to its strategic importance, at the crossing of several roads merging to the valley from mountain passes

In the center of Bagnone, a renovated residence with double, triple and quadruple rooms

In the heart of the Apennine National Park and Unesco Man & Biosphere Reserve.
The small village of Treschietto is one of the several medieval hilltop villages that dot the Lunigiana valley in northern Tuscany, characterized by lush chestnut woods and olive groves, overlooked by the peaks of the Apennines. The small village features the ruins of a medieval tower (once a castle) and is popular for its delicacy: the sweet onion “cipolla di Treschietto”.
It is only 5 km far from Bagnone, one of the most charming villages of the area

For centuries rainwater has been collected by the majesty of the mountains here, filtered into the subsoil, enriched with mineral salts that are beneficial to our health and then put back on the surface where they are collected and used not far a short distance from the medieval village. The marble core of the Apuan Alps is the origin of the healing waters that fuel the Terme di Equi baths.

The chloride-sulphate-sodium waters are classed as mineral springs. Ranging between 17 and 27°C, with an average of 24°C, these waters are regarded as hypothermal.

The waters are used to heal health problems affecting the respiratory and otolaryngology systems (pharyngitis, sinusitis, rhinitis, laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, rhinogenic deafness), skin complaints (eczema, acne, itchy skin, psoriasis), bone and joint problems (arthrosis, chronic primary polyarthritis, rheumatism in the joints, fibrositis, joint distractions, post-fractures, sciatic and lumber pain) and angiology (vasculopathy, chronic phlebopathy) through bathing from 36° to 39°C and in thermal pools at 27°C, as well as the general and localized hydromassage with thermal water, inhalations, aerosols, vaporizers, nasal irrigation, and general and partial massages.
Equi caves in Lunigiana
Equi caves in Lunigiana – Credit: GAL Lunigiana

For those seeking relaxation and wellness at Terme di Equi, try the steam room, solar shower, massages that tone and soothe, algae, mud and cold-compress treatments, beauty services and even a range of cosmetic products for the face and body.

Close to the bath, the Grotte di Equi are worth a visit, a karst complex of caves in the Apuan Alps Regional Park and acknowledged by UNESCO as a Geopark, formed over thousands of years by water erosion, carving underground tunnels, lakes and wells that are fascinating to see.

Info: termediequi.it