Lands of Arezzo
Arezzo is a gem suspended in time, where past and present intertwine in a harmonious dance. Its territories offer a vast natural and artistic heritage. The city is surrounded by four valleys: to the north by Casentino with the district of Capolona rich in art and spirituality, to the east by Valtiberina, to the south by Valdichiana and to the west by Valdarno, with the village of Castiglion Fibocchi and the Nature Reserve of Ponte Buriano and Penna, extremely biodiverse and perfect for trekking along its paths.
Natural Reserve of Ponte Buriano e Penna
The Natural Reserve of Ponte Buriano and Penna is a Tuscan landscape rich in biodiversity and with a great historical heritage. Large green spaces and woods where you can go walking. Accessible paths covering an area of about seven kilometres along the bed of the Arno river, from the Romanesque bridge of
Ponte Buriano to the Penna dam. A trekking to be reconnected with nature and find inspiration. The flora landscape consists of downy and turkey oak woods and a vast marsh area in the eastern section of the Reserve. Among the breeding birds there are rare species such as Grebes and Little Bitterns. The area, which constitutes an integrated system with the nearby Valle dell'Inferno and Bandella Provincial Nature Reserve, is of considerable interest for the stopover of water birds such as Cormorant, Great White Heron and Osprey. The Visitor Centre of Ponte Buriano houses a permanent exhibition on the river and its history, and another one on the relationship between Ponte a Buriano and Leonardo da Vinci.
Capolona
Located at the place where according to Dante "the Arno flows away with scorn from the people of Arezzo" Capolona is a destination rich in natural and artistic eauty, with its gentle rolling hills and stone villages. A place where, along with nature that plays a leading role, there is no lack of precious traces from the Middle Ages and the Tuscan Renaissance. A postcard-perfect location, among olive trees, cypresses and towers that reveals itself step by step. From Pieve a Sietina, with its enchanting parish church dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena, passing by Castelluccio, to the nearby village of Pieve San Giovanni with a panorama that sweeps from the top of the Alpe di Catenaia to the Chianti hills. San Martino Sopr'Arno, where you will find the parish church of the same name dating back to the early 11th century and the nearby centre of Bibbiano, which has preserved much part of the Medieval city walls and the typical austere and sober lines of the time.
Castiglion Fibocchi
The town of Castiglion Fibocchi stands on the last offshoots of the Pratomagno massif, along the ancient Via Clodia (or Cassia Vetus). The municipal territory, lready inhabited in the 1st century BC, around the year 1000 was one of the castles of the Earls Guidi, set to defend the road that connected Valdarno to Casentino. t then passed to the sons of Ottaviano Pazzi known as "Bocco." Hence the name Castrum Filiis Bocchi and then, the current one, Castiglion Fibocchi. Everything in he ancient village is linked to this family, so in order to enter the historic centre you go through Porta Fredda - originally the entrance to the castle - while the resent Town Hall was the family' s palace and even the church of Saints Peter and Ilarius used to be the castle chapel. Today it preserves a fresco dating back to the 15th century, probably by Agnolo di Lorentino.
