The memory

The ring connects two locations in the open countryside where, in the summer of 1944, the local population built shelters seeking refuge from the dangers of war. Together with the farmhouses, the small rural villages, the furnaces, the network of springs, the mills and the landscape architecture, the trail touches the deep values, the identity and the memory of the population of these places. A value of peace that we intend to share and exchange with all those who
will come to walk along this path.

The nature

The Migliarini and the Pesciola refuge, are immersed in wooded areas. Because of the rural flight in the second half of the 20th century
the wild vegetation has reclaimed its space and now offers particular naturalistic interest also for the richness of the fauna.

Trail

The main trail forms a ring of 11 km, in green in the map, while the actual trail will have white / red signs.
The “Path of Faith”, marked in pink, is detached from the ring.
These trails don’t present any risky however they are not suitable for mobility impaired people. The main ring avoids, as far as possible, roads open to car traffic and winds along country, local, municipal roads and paths. The sections that cross wooded or rural areas are highlighted in the map with a dashed line.

Several parking lots distributed along the ring are pointed in the map: Corfecciano, Fornacette, Mulinaccio, Lucardo, Barberinuzzo.

The description follows the trail of the main ring clockwise.

Description

It is possible to start walking the trail from Corfecciano: park your car in the clearing from where the Church access road begins. Cross the provincial road and head towards the houses that can be seen a little higher up. When you come across a vineyard, go down to the left until you reach the grove near the Migliarini refuge. The trail continues in the olive grove and then climbs up to the ridge across the vineyards and reaches the ancient farming hamlet of Ghisone whose existence was already recorded in the fourteenth century. The Nesi family has been here since 1692; here you’ll find wine, oil and agricultural products on sale. Follow the Via Sodale downhill to the Ginestraia house and the Sodale rural residence. Here you turn right to reach Fornacette: in the past the local economy was based on some furnaces, hence the name. Here you’ll find a bar, a small grocery store and a public fountain with drinking water.

After passing the provincial road and crossing the village, continue along Via Virginiolo along the stream of the same name as far as the bridge, before the locality of Mulinaccio which, in the Middle Ages, housed a mill while nowadays houses the Centre of the “Franciscan Opera della Pietà”, see the Trail of the Faith). Cross the bridge and go up Via Forcile to the houses of S. Giusto di Sotto and di Sopra which was the seat of one of the first medieval churches of Lucardo. There are three farms selling wine and oil. Continue on the dirt road and turn right almost immediately, in a steep climb onto Via S. Giusto, in the direction of Lucardo.

After passing the beautiful Torricella house on the left, continue uphill to the ridge in the locality of La Casetta: a panoramic point with a view that, from the underlying Pesciola valley extends to Monte Serra, the Apuan Alps and the Pistoia Apennines. From here you’ll quickly reach the square in front of the Church of San Martino a Lucardo (the Church, of which there are records since 1093, hosts valuable works of art). Even if abandoned and deteriorated, the above standing hamlet is also worth a visit since it retains the imprint of a medieval farm-castle. After crossing the square in front of the church, you find yourself overlooking Trecento. The trail now quickly descend onto the dirt road which, running alongside the water depot, heads straight to Casa Ghiaie. After crossing the provincial road (beware! The bend ahead on the road provides poor visibility!) continue downhill on Via Trecento, a municipal road with a wide view. Shortly after you’ll reach the farm Le Valli in Lucardo which sells oil, vegetables, cheese and, upon request, provides a pizzeria service on the weekends.) Turn right onto the farm road and continue slightly downhill for about 200 meters, skirting a walnut grove with cherry trees. After passing the sheep shed, turn left and walk across the Valli wood until you reach the junction for the Pesciola refuge which is located at the end of a short descent. Then go back to the intersection by turning left. Proceed in the wood for about 1 km, enter an olive grove and then follow a small road underlying the wood, after which the path deviates to the right to reach the provincial road.

Crossing it (be careful!) you rejoin the initial trail in Ghisone and return to the Church of Corfecciano.