Tag: Tuscany tours

Tuscan villages

San Gennaro

Tuscan villages: San Gennaro
The village of San Gennaro is a settlement on the ridge of the boundary with the valley of Pescia di Collodi and, according to martyrologies of just after the time of San Frediano (A. Mazzarosa, 1933) in dates back to the 6th century. Its foundation was perhaps due to a Neapolitan community that had emigrated here after the huge eruption of Vesuvius in 512, a hypotesis which is also borne out by the fact that there was a street in the village called Gragnano and another near Naples.

The ancient village of San Gennaro has a particular town layout which “pivots” around the parish church and above which the town layout consists of a series of villas standing next to each other and connected by enclosure walls, parks and family oratories. Called “Il Castello”, this is the oldest part of village and the richiest of history, and from here there is a splendid view of the lucca plain.
The village below the church is composed of about one hundred buildings built in series and all with similar characters (the size of the buildings is determined by the lenght of the wooden beams), with living quarters on the upper florr and shops on the ground floor.
the majority of the houses probably date back the the 16th century, but on many of them the date chiselled into the portal is 1746, the year in which the reorganisation of the town and buildings took place, which also led to the removal of the outside stairs.
Although the Municipality of san gennaro had been established and had its own statue since the 12th century, the village did not have a place where meeting could be held and they took place in the parish church.

It was for this reason that in 16000 a town hall was built in the area below the church.
Next to the church is the Boccella building, an architectural complex that is now being restored for use as Museum of Oil and Wine, with a wine shop and tasting room, a meeting room and areas especially equipped for top quality tourist accomodation. This is also where the head office of the Fondazione Palazzo Boccella will be situated and the entire complex will be run by a consortium of public bodies and private producers and entrepreneurs.

Tuscany olive oil tasting tour

Olive tree

Olive oil cultivation has distinguished the province of Lucca since ancient times a deep rooted tradition of olive growing which shows how precious and typicl this crop is, today more than ever, constantly looking to safeguard an irreplaceable heritage.
The landscape has alwys seemed to be richin olive trees, which were once cultivated on hillocks and steep mountain terraces. In the Lucca area olive cultivation developed in the 14th and 15th centuries with production increasing at thet time.

Statues were drawn up in the various communities with precise rules of behaviour which influenced the quality of local production, even identifying the varieties most commonly grown. Varieties were assed in the province of Lucca which are still cultivated today. With time the olive oil became, thanks to the ability and tenacity of those who had always grown it, an opportunity for commercial development. In the Lucca area the olive oil has always represented not just a factor for economic growth but also a way of life.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the product which more than any other characterises the province of Lucca and its gastronomic tradition, both in the interland and the coastal area.
The olive oil of Lucca is not only one of the most famous in Tuscany, and as such was the first in the 19th century to cross the borders of Italy and Europe,  but also has outstanding  characteristics which make it difficult to confuse with oil produced in other areas of the region.

Its characteristics have made it part of the staple diet, not only for its olfactory properties but also dietary ones, for a healty and correct diet. This oil comes from the typical Tuscan cultivars Frantoio, Leccino and to a lesser extent, Pendolino and Maurino.
However, the peculiarities of the terrain, the altitude and the position make the oil unique for its fruity flavour, its golden yellow colour with hints of green, and for its overall aroma, such that today many professional taster from the various oil producing areas of Italy take back a sample of extra virgin olive oil from lucca to use as a yardstick for purchasing olive oil for the companies that they work for.
It is not by chance that the extra virgin olive oil from the hills of Lucca has earned the right to mention additional geographical distinction, in terms of IGP, obtained from DOP Tuscan oil.
This makes it very easy to recognise a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Lucca.

For very special taste olive oil please contact www.aziendaagricolamatteucci.com

Tuscan towns

Lucca walls

Quality of life in Lucca.
In the province of Lucca, as in the rest of Tuscany as a whole, people recognise, and have, a good quality of life both for those who invest and work in the teritory as well as those who simply whish to spend some time here in the name of culture, countryside, sea and as a means of visiting other important places in Tuscany.

The province of Lucca occupied 31st position in the national table for quality of life, taking into account indicators such as the way of life, work and business, services and the environment, the population and leisure time.
The families of Lucca have an average disposable income, taken as the sum of the active resources which each family sets aside for the acquisition of goods and servis and for saving, which puts them under the regional average (6th place among the provinces of Tuscany), even if close to the national average, which is strongly penalised by the income of the families from the South of Italy.

Compared with this the average assets of the families of Lucca i.e. the total of real assets (houses, land) and financial assets (financial and property investments), is in second place in the regional classification behind Siena. 63% of these assets are represented by property and 37% by investments and other financial assets.

The overview of the affluence of our province sees a quite low level of income but with quite high values of assets.
This aspect of the assets is probably explained by the historic propensity of lucca families to save manoey and to invest in property, while the income aspect is ascribable, at least in part, to the lack in the province of large employment structures with medium -high wages.

Tuscany wine tasting tours

Tuscan wine cellar
Tuscan wine cellar

A magic tuscany winery tour…why not?
On leaving Florence, following the Chianti road, we can find many medieval villages.
The first is Verrazzano with its beautiful old castle, the second is Greve in Chianti with its small centre famous for ancient wine cellars.
Continuing the tour, we find Radda in Chianti, famous for  label called “Gallo Nero”. In a south west of Radda, from the top of gently hill, Castellina dominates an ancient holiday town; on the other side of the hill there are San Gimignano and Monteriggioni, two town of extra-ordinary beauty!
In these areas is possible to vsit many farms as Dievole, Verrazzano, Montagliari and many other.