Pratovecchio - Stia

There are places that are like books: you enter into them through the spirit of the word. Pratovecchio is one such place, a district where there is so much to see, discover and explore. You can pretty much find the true Casentino here. To be truly beautiful, a person from Casentino must be understood from the inside, not superficially, but deeply from within.

In this district there are places, like the church and castle of Romena, which are really worth visiting to attend a Mass; in particular the Sunday service at the ‘porto di vita della Fraternità’ created by Don Gigi. Famous in the whole of Italy now, this fraternity has helped various people from all walks of life, here they rest like ships saved from a storm and then leave in search of God and the world. The ‘Pieve di Romena’ church is also a place of history, art, beauty and forgiveness. The castle just above it, with its cypress lined driveway, is a charming place passed through by literary and poetry greats, visited by the bad and the good of the earth, kissed by the sun, worn out by time, but still alive.

Then there are the surrounding towns: every place a legend, every place a work of art. Casalino, where you can taste the ‘Abbucciato Aretino’ cheese, which is the product of thousands of years of taste and knowledge; Lonnano, Ama and its Etruscan ruins, the ‘via dei Legni’ (wood road), where the white fir trees were transported to Florence and Pisa, via the waters of the river Arno, where they became masts of ships that sailed the seas of the world or scaffolding for major works like the ‘Duomo’ of Florence.

The district of Pratovecchio-Stia is located in the north of Casentino and is a region with great historical and cultural interest, above all because it contains monuments such as the church and castle of Romena, which are of great beauty and value.

HISTORIC CENTRE

Arriving in Pratovecchio from Poppi, you should visit the ‘Badia di Poppiena’, which is on the right just before you enter the town. The church was built in 11th century and contains an exquisite ‘Annunciation’, painted on a gold background from the first decades of 1400, attributed to Giovanni del Ponte. The most significant place in the town is ‘piazza Jacopo Landino’, an important 14th century painter from the local area who died here in 1358. The square, commonly known as ‘Piazza Vecchia’ (old square), is lined with collonades and has two elegant palaces in it: Palazzo Vigiani, the headquarters of the ‘Foreste Casentinesi’ National Park, and Palazzo Nardi-Berti with its beautiful family crest on the corner. In the 16th century church dedicated to ‘SS Nome di Gesù’ there are some important works of art. The medieval ones were brought here from other churches nearby. At the end of the street on the right hand side is the ‘Monastero delle Monache Camaldolesi’ dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, which was built in the 12th century. Also in ‘Piazza Vecchia’ is another monastery belonging to the Dominican Sisters and dedicated to the ‘Madonna della Neve’ (Madonna of the snow), built in the 16th century. Not far from the Dominican monastery you will find the ‘Borgo di Mezzo’, where there is a shrine containing a terracotta relief by Della Robbia. After a few more steps you will enter Via Garibaldi, the characteristic area of the town lined on both sides with colonnades.

From Palazzo Vigiani, next to the ‘Propositura’, you will find ‘Palazzo Nardi-Berti’ with its 16th century design, confirmed by the date 1621 written on the grand crest displayed on its corner; Another plaque records the stay of the ‘Granduchessa Maria Maddalena d’Austria’, wife of Cosimo II, who was the Nardi’s guest during a visit to Camaldoli and La Verna in 1618. In Via Verdi, where the ‘Cassero’ and the ‘Teatro degli Antei’ are located, you will find the imprint of the whole history of the town.

Within the surrounding area there are many small villages that are worth a visit, firstly because of the countryside and atmosphere they are set in, and also for the valuable architectural and artistic works you will find there, and the many opportunities to taste the local products of the area. A good example are the villages of Casalino and Lonnano at the beginning of the ‘Foreste Casentinesi’ national park, where the church of ‘San Romolo’ contains a beautiful painting dedicated to the ‘Passion of Christ’ from the end of the 1300s. Also worth seeing is Ama, a few houses with a small old church on the edge of a large and wonderful field, from which you can admire a far-reaching and impressive view. Also worth a visit is Castelcastagnaio, with its castle remains and the beautiful ‘Pieve di San Bartolomeo’ church, a place on the slopes of the ‘Consuma’, which provides a sort of viewing terrace for the Casentino panorama, and the village of Campolombardo, which, as its name suggests, has Lombard origins. We have already talked about Romena, where history, literature, poetry and legends reside. In the XXX Canto of Dante’s Inferno, the town is remembered with an absolute and eternal celebration that goes beyond its beauty and magic.

There is Romena, where I counterfeited

The currency imprinted with the Baptist,

For which I left my body burned above.

These are the words of master Adam, guilty of falsifying gold florins of the Florentine Republic while he was a guest of the ‘Conti Guidi’ in the ‘Castello di Romena’.

The ‘Pieve di San Pietro a Romena’ church is one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in Casentino and is located on the Roman road ‘Via Maior’. Just after the church, on the left, a road leads to the castle and halfway up is the ‘Fontebranda’ fountain. The castle, which still stands proud despite the numerous tests of time, is a place that offers a unique feeling, with glimpses of history in a natural context of rare beauty.