The “Quercione”
This fine example of Quercus pubescens, the Downy Oak or Pubescent Oak, is said to be approximately five centuries old, and it is recordered in the catalogue of the Alberi Monumentali d’Italia. Its trunk is about four metres in circumference and over fourteen metres tall, its open network of branches spreads out to about thirty metres to give it an extremely interesting and aesthetically beautiful shape.
A legend explains why its branches spread horizontally: it is said that the witches of the area used to gather here, and it was their weight that made the branches spread.
Montecarlo wines
One of the oldest wines in Tuscany comes from the Lucchesia: Montecarlo. Almost certainly wines were already being grown in this area in Etruscan and Roman times: according to the experts, the ancient name of Montecarlo, Vivinaja, comes from “via vinaria”, the road that joined the via Cassia to the via Romea and passed through the village.
Subsequently, a document of 846 talks about the income from perpetual leases in kind, which also included “pure wine, grapes pressed three times according to the rules, and then decanted. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Montecarlo wine was very well known throughout Tuscany, and the people who got tipsy on it included the doge, Giovanni dell’Agnello, who governed Pisa and Lucca from 1364 to 1368.
The Prato merchant, Francesco Datini ( who invented the bill of exchange), wrote to his Lucchese correspondent: ” If you could have a perfect and good white wine {…} and you knew that Monte Chiaro is the one from Lucha, you would only want that”.
When Pope Gregory XII went to Montecarlo in 1408 he, too, was able to taste and enjoy the wine “of the land of the Cerrugli”; even those eternal rivals, the Lucchese noblemen, Paolo Guinigi and Pietro Cenami, were in perfect agreement about one thing at least Montecarlo wine.
Its consumption in the Florentine area grew when, in 1437, the domination of Florence began to spread to this land. In 1567 for example, the rural community offered “Trebbiano” to Duke Cosimo I of the Medici, and it was consumed also by his son, Francesco I.
In 1930 it was on the table of Umberto I of savoy in the Quirinale Palace.
In 1969, Montecarlo white obtained the official Denomination “Origine Controllata” recognition, and in 1985 the red wine also awarded the D.O.C. recognition.
At the end of 19th century an enthusiastic Lucchese winemaker, Giulio Magnani, brought some wines from France to improve the Tuscan Trebbiano: these innovations led to a new Montecarlo made in “french style”; other producers followed hhis lead and also used this type of grape and method of making the wine. The area of production includes the municipality of Montecarlo and part of the municipalities of Porcari, Altopascio and Capannori.
Spring Weather and Climate in Italy
Spring is a nice time to travel in Italy. It is generally pleasant in most parts of Italy although rain, and even snow in early spring, is possible.
Most parts of Italy get less rainfall in spring than in fall.
Toward the end of spring, temperatures can get quite warm and you can enjoy outdoor dining.
Top spring foods include artichokes (carciofi), asparagus (asparagi), and spring lamb (agnello).
The heat and tourist crowds of summer have not arrived and more daylight hours give more time for touring and visiting outdoor sites which sometimes close at dusk. Beaches will be less crowded and swimming in the sea may be possible in late spring.
Spring is a good time for hiking and viewing wildflowers.
You’ll find many small fairs and festivals, especially food festivals or sagre, and outdoor performances start in late spring.
Highlights of spring are spring and flower festivals, Holy Week, and outdoor concerts starting in May or June.
National holidays are Easter Monday (la Pasquetta), April 25 (liberation day), May 1, and June 2 (Festa della Repubblica).
On these days, most shops and services will be closed but many major tourist attractions are usually open.
Festivals, concerts, and processions are common, too.
“A look into the invisible”
A major exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi tells the story of Giorgio De Chirico’s extraordinary artistic career and the dual impact that this painting had on modern art and painters such as Carrà and Morandi, or Max Ernst, Magritte and Balthus.
One hundred works from exclusive private collections and some of the most important museums in the world allow the visitor to explore the “Copernican Revolution” that De Chirico brought to 20th century art.
This revolution paved the way for very interesting and lively developments in European art. Between the two world wars, from Dadaism to Surrealism and Realism to Neo-Romanticism, a final blow was dealt to Cubism and the formal Avant-garde.
The choice of Florence as the venue for the exhibition is especially significant. It was here, while visiting the city in October 1909, that the 21 year old De Chirico had the intuition that was to prompt him to create his first metaphysical works.
The exhibition includes some of De Chirico most famous works from 1911 on, paintings by Carrà and Morandi, and masterpieces by Renè Magritte, Max Ernst and Balthus, which the visitors can compare and contrast with several important works by such artists as Niklaus Stoecklin, Arturo Nathan, Pierre Roy and Alberto Savinio, all of whom travelled the path first marked put by De Chirico.
A journey in pictures into unknonw territory, a “look into the invisible” allow us to explore in depth the art of De Chirico and the 20th century.
Opening hours
Tuesday-sunday 10.00 am – 8.00 pm
Monday closed
Phone: +39 055 2469600
Fax +39 055 244145
Tickets
Full price euro 10.00
Reduced euro 8.50; 8,00; 7,50; 7,00; 4,00
Massaciuccoli, the Roman archaeological findings and the church of San Lorenzo.
According to the archaeological findings from the time of the Roman Empire, a large “pagus” and a “mansio” must have been situated here.
The most interesting historical buildings in Massaciuccoli are the villas and baths, which were built perhaps in the time of the Emperor Trajan.
The villa, which was discovered in 1932, has two beautiful mosaic floors: the larger depicts a scene with four sea monsters, two horses and two dolphin around a central opening from which water gushed and above which there was a bronze statue (now in Florence).
Immersed in a dense olive grove, the remains of the baths include a “calidarium” with two baths, a “sudarium” with three rows of seats covered whit white marble, the cells used as changing rooms, and the flooring in some of the adjoining rooms.
Because of the grandeur of the building, it is unlikely that the baths were part of a private villa, but rather public baths built in a charming holiday locality.
The Church of San Lorenzo is situated in a beautiful panoramic position immediatly above the baths. It certainly existed in the 9th century, but in the 5th century it may have been a small oratory. The plagues of the 1300s, the lake taht had become a marshland, and malaria led to the depopulation of the area and the decline of Massaciuccoli. As a consequence, the church was reduced to one nave:
the aisle on the left became the priest’s house.
Its current layout is a result of renovation and enlargement carried out in 1870 and 1909.
