Pratovecchio Stia

Nature, art and spirituality are deeply rooted in the territory of Pratovecchio-Stia, a municipality that, since 2014, joins together Pratovecchio and Stia, the first towns that the Arno river crosses after it is born from it spring in the heart of the National Park of Casentinese Forests on Falterona mount. Pratovecchio developed in the 13th century, when the counts Guidi founded a fortified village along the Arno. The ancient area of the castle coincides with Landino square, also called Old square. Here there are the archways that are in all of the town, and the main buildings such as the Propositura of the Sacred Name of Jesus (Propositura del Ss. Nome di Gesù), a church built between 1592 and 1661, that keeps many works that were made from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The monastery of st. Giovanni Evangelista was built in the 12th century whereas the monastery of Our Lady of Snow (monastero di Santa Maria della Neve) was built in the 16th century. In Landino square there is also Vigiani palace where the offices of the National Park of the Casentinese Forests are.
Around Pratovecchio it is possible to visit the abbey of Poppiena, a monastery built in the 11th century with the church of st. Mary. On a hill, guarding the right bank of the Arno river, there is the castle of Romena, built in the 11th century by the marquises of Spoleto. In the 12th century it was passed to the counts Guidi that fortified it with a concentric layer of city walls on different heights. In the second half it was purchased by the counts Goretti de’ Flamini.
At the bottom of the fortified hill there is the rural church of st. Pietro in Romena, a beautiful Romanesque masterpiece, deep in the dreamlike nature of the Casentino valley. In 1152, the minister of the church had it rebuilt on the remains of a previous mediaeval building. The polygonal apsis is filled with arches, columns, one-arched, two-arched and three-arched windows. Inside the church there is a mix of sacred and profane in capitals ranging from symbols, humans, both real and mythological animals, citation from the Bible and vegetal motifs. Halfway from the rural church and the castle there is Fonte Branda, that derives its name from the forger of florentine florins Mastro Adamo da Brescia, also mentioned in the Divine Comedy by Dante in the 30th canto of the Hell. Other important places in Pratovecchio are some hamlets, along the way to Camaldoli, that are worth a visit: Ama, with the church of st. Biagio of the 11th century, Lonnano, where the church of st. Vito and Modesto of the 12th century is, and Valiana with its church of st. Romulo from the 12th century. Stia, on the confluence between the Staggia stream and the Arno, was called Palagio during the 13th century, referring to the fortified palace (in old Italian “palagio”) built by the counts Guidi in 1230. When the town entered under the Florentine sphere of influence, in 1402, the name was changed into Palagio Fiorentino, changing again after the 18th century thus becoming permanently Stia. Nowadays the name “Palagio Fiorentino” is used to talk about the castle built by Carlo Beni during the 1900s on the remains of the original mediaeval palace which was destroyed in 1440 by the army led by Niccolò Piccinino.
Tanucci square, with its elongated shape, is the heart of Stia. On the square there is the parish church of st. Mary, one of the most important religious sites in Casentino, has been documented since 1017 and rebuilt during the 12th century. Even though the exterior of the church is that of the 18th century, the interior which is divided in three aisles has the original Romanesque style. Inside the parish church there still are many artworks made from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Not far from the city centre it is possible to visit the great woollen mill of the start of the 1800s, the first true factory of the Casentino valley, nowadays inside it there is the Museum of the art of Wool.
Around Stia, on Falterona mountain there are the springs of the Arno river, at about 1358 metres. Near Capo d’Arno there is the Lake of the Idols (Lago degli Idoli) where, during the 19th century, it was discovered an enormous etruscan deposit with around 650 votive small bronze statues from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC. The sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces (santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie) built in the 15th century, in the locality Santa Maria, was built to commemorate the apparition of the Virgin Mary. In Papiano, in the direction of the Calla pass, the church of st. Cristina has been documented since the end of the 13th century.
The castle of Porciano was built between the 11th and the 12th centuries. Since the 12th century it was the home of the Porciano Modigliana branch of the counts Guidi family who built this big tower that even today overlooks the hamlet. In 1442 the counts left the place, giving it to the Florentines. The process of ruin was stopped in 1799, when the castle was bought by the count Goretti de’ Flamini, the same family that restored it in the 1960s and still owns it. In Porciano there is also the church of st. Lorenzo, built during the Middle Ages and restored during the 1700s. In Vallucciole, the church of st. Primo and Feliciano has a memorial dedicated to the victims of the nazi massacres that happened on the 13th of April 1944 in which 109 people lost their lives.

Pratovecchio

Stia

Palagio Fiorentino / Stia

Museo dell’Arte della Lana / Stia

Museo dell’Arte della Lana / Stia

Museo dell’Arte della Lana / Stia

Museo dell’Arte della Lana / Stia