The olive and the hills The Tuscan landscape, and the hills around Lucca In particular, is identified to a large extent by the presence of the olive tree. Thousands of the years olde, these dignified trees with their generous foliage of silvery leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, provide Read more…
Forgotten treasures of Lucca Some Grapevine readers may have seen the recent exhibition in Lucca, “Lucca abbandonata, Lucca ritrovata” feauturing stunning black and white photographs of over 60 significant buildings in and around Lucca which have fallen into disuse and are lying empty. Now the exhibition organisers wanted to draw Read more…
Villa Minutoli at Massaciuccoli The building, which was perhaps the centre of the original building, belonged to the Spada family, but at the beginning of the 19th century, was inherited with all the surrounding properties, by count Carlo Minutoli, who increased them considerably thanks to the cultivation of rice. The Read more…
Miglianello Miglianello is a little village immersed in the terraces of olive groves that cover the entire hillside. The particular layout of the buildingis due to the fact that originally it was an Olivetan Monastery. In the 18th century, the building was bought by the Papanti family. The complex has Read more…
The Garden that extends from the hill behind the Pitti Palace as far as Porta Romana, reached its current extension and appearance, becoming one of the largest and most elegant Italian style gardens, through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work carried out at diffrent times. The first works initially Read more…